


The Losers Club

by phoenixnz



Category: Smallville
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2019-09-17
Packaged: 2019-09-23 15:39:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 62,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17083067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixnz/pseuds/phoenixnz
Summary: Clark Queen has been orphaned twice over and lives with his mother's cousin in Smallville. It's a pretty normal life. He goes to school, he does chores and he has good friends. Even if the other kids consider them the biggest losers in school. Then Clark's life is turned upside down when Lois Lane comes to Smallville.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this story on my mind for a while. This is pretty much starting at the beginning. Yes, Veritas did happen in this 'verse. Things will be explained as I go along.

Clark shivered uncontrollably, his whole body aching with the cold and pain. Normally the temperature didn’t affect him, but this time was different. He’d been in the same position for an hour at least. He’d lost track of time. 

Pain shot through his lower legs as he tried to shift his body on the cross, trying to figure out how he could actually get off this thing. It looked like the guys that put him there weren’t coming back any time soon.

Damn Whitney and his stupid friends, he thought. 

The blond jock had always been jealous of Clark, ever since he’d come to live in Smallville. Whitney’s parents owned Fordman Department Store in ‘downtown Smallville’. If it could be called downtown, since it was really only one main street. Sure, there were a couple of other streets with various stores, but Main Street was the central hub of the town’s business district, catering to the town’s population of 45,001. 

Fordman’s had started off in the early 20th century. Whitney’s great-great-grandfather had opened up the store in about 1919. It had just been one building then. A little general store catering for the local farmers. It had expanded three times since that time. 

The Fordmans were one of the wealthier families in the town. Until Clark had gone to live with Martha and Jonathan Kent, Whitney had probably considered his family second in wealthy status only to Nell Potter and her niece, Lana Lang, who also happened to be Whitney’s girlfriend, despite the fact she was a freshman and he was a senior at Smallville High. 

Nell had adopted Lana after her parents, Lewis and Laura Lang, had been killed when Lana was three. The couple had been coming to pick up their daughter from her aunt, who had been looking after her while they’d gone to a homecoming game. They had been killed when their car exploded from the impact of a meteor from the infamous meteor strike of 1989.

It was too bad for Whitney that Clark’s parents were considered the richest in Star City. Or they had been. Robert and Laura Queen had been on a plane which had disappeared off radar in the Pacific when Clark was six. 

“It never stops.”

Clark looked up and frowned. It was dark but he could just make out the face of the man standing in front of him. It was familiar. Jeremy Creek. Clark’s best friend Chloe had discovered that Jeremy had been in a coma in the state infirmary for twelve years. She suspected what had put him in the coma was a blast of radiation from the same meteor strike. He’d been strung up in the same predicament Clark currently found himself in. 

Smallville High apparently had a tradition. The football jocks would choose a ‘loser freshman’ and string them up on a cross in Miller’s Field, calling it the Scarecrow. It was a form of hazing. Jeremy had been chosen that year.

Jeremy started to turn away, but Clark called out to him. “Help me,” he said.

The man, who seemed not to have aged a day since the meteors, shook his head. 

“I thought if I punished them, it would stop.”

“Please …”

“You’re safer there,” the other boy/man responded. 

Clark frowned, wondering what Jeremy meant by that. He’d learned that three former jocks, from around the same time Jeremy would have been at the high school, had been attacked and taken to hospital. 

He hung on the cross, struggling weakly to break the bonds. He had no idea why his strength had left him. He felt weak and nauseated, his body aching and feverish. He remembered when he was about ten, Jonathan had come down with a bad flu and had been laid up for a couple of days. The aches and pains he was describing sounded exactly like Clark was feeling now. 

He heard the sound of a car engine. It sounded to him like it was an expensive car and wondered if it was Lex. The son of Metropolis billionaire Lionel Luthor had recently moved to Smallville. Clark wasn’t exactly clear on why the twenty-one-year-old son of one of his father’s business acquaintances had moved to the town, but they weren’t exactly friends and he wasn’t about to ask. He did know that Lex was now running the Luthorcorp fertiliser plant, which was nearby.

They’d met a few times when Clark had had to go with Jonathan and Martha to fulfil his family’s social obligations. He’d always found them boring. Lex could often be found hanging out at the bar or hiding in the coat closet reading comics. 

“Clark? Clark Queen?”

He squinted as a beam from a flashlight shone in his eyes and realised the bald man was the one holding the light. 

“Lex?”

“Ah geez!” The man dashed forward, quickly undoing the ropes that bound Clark to the cross. “Who did this to you?”

“Doesn’t matter,” he said. 

As the last of the ropes fell away, the necklace Whitney had placed around his neck also fell to the ground. The effect was almost instantaneous. He looked down at his hands. The cramping pain which had seemed to have turned his hands into arthritic claw-like appendages was gone; as was the stomach cramps and the nausea. 

“You should see a doctor,” Lex said. 

“I’m fine,” Clark told him, grabbing his clothes. He had a feeling that whatever Jeremy had planned, it had something to do with the school. The same school where his best friends, Chloe Sullivan, Pete Ross and Abby Fine were attending the homecoming dance. 

An hour later, his friends were none-the-wiser as they came out of the school gymnasium to find several of the jocks’ trucks in a pile in the parking lot. Whitney Fordman’s truck was at the very top. 

Clark watched from the shadows as the blond football captain stared in dismay. 

“Serves you right for calling me a loser and stringing me up,” he said quietly. Not that the other boy would have heard any of that. 

He could see Chloe laughing. When he and Pete had told her about the homecoming ‘tradition’, she had wanted to write a scathing editorial damning the hazing. Abby, who had been the target of considerable hazing herself, had egged her on. It was never a good idea to encourage Chloe when she was on one of her crusades. She had only been living in Smallville a year or so and had already managed to get herself involved in various scrapes. 

Clark smirked as he left the school grounds. The Losers Club wins again, he told himself. Maybe the rest of the school would never know who was actually responsible for what happened to the trucks, but he still got a sense of satisfaction out of it. 

He was up late the next morning. Martha had called up the stairs telling him to hurry up or he would be late for the farmers’ market. 

Why the older couple continued to sell their produce at the market when they didn’t really need the money, Clark didn’t know. 

As he lugged a bushel of apples off the truck to take to the stand, he complained about it to Jonathan. 

“You know your father’s will stated the money was to be held in trust until you’re eighteen.” He’d refused to use any of the money, saying it was for Clark’s future, although they apparently had enough of a stipend from the estate to allow them to hire a couple of hands and were debt-free. 

“I just don’t get why you don’t just hire someone to run the stall,” he said.

Jonathan ruffled his hair. The blond farmer was almost as tall as Clark. 

“Hard work keeps a man honest, son. Do you think your father just sat around in that office of his contemplating his business investments? No, he actually worked for Queen Industries’ money.”

Clark had been too young to really understand what his father did and had barely even seen his father’s office by the time his parents had disappeared. Oliver would have understood it better, he supposed, feeling a slight twinge of grief. 

His brother, Oliver, had been almost nine when Clark had been adopted by the Queens. The elder boy had been spoiled but doted on his younger brother. 

According to the adoption records, Robert and Laura Queen had been planning on visiting Laura’s cousin, Jonathan Kent, the day the meteors had struck Smallville. The car they had rented from an agency in Metropolis had broken down on the highway and Robert had been looking for a passing vehicle when Oliver had become bored. He’d wandered off into the cornfield, his mother chasing him, when the meteors came down. They’d found a little boy and assumed he was lost. 

Further investigation had found that the little boy’s birth parents had been killed when their car had overturned after it had been struck by a meteor. Feeling sorry for the child, who couldn’t have been more than two or three, Laura had suggested to Robert that they adopt him. 

The truth was much, much stranger. Robert and Laura Queen had been part of a so-called secret society, called Veritas. Working with a philanthropist and scientist, Virgil Swann, they had discovered a message from the stars. The message told of the arrival of a child named Kal-El. 

The scientist had also discovered that a distant planet, which his own advanced tech had found, had suddenly disappeared from the galaxy. Assuming the message was a cry for help, he had shared this information with the others in the society. Lionel Luthor, Edward Teague and the Queens had been the only members. 

Knowing Lionel would have used the boy to aid him in his own ambitions, Robert and Laura had managed to calculate where and when Kal-El was likely to arrive and had put off a business trip to go to Smallville. Fortunately, since Laura’s cousin happened to own a farm there, they had the perfect cover for the trip. 

Coincidence or not, Lionel had also been in Smallville the day of the meteor shower, negotiating a buyout of the local creamed corn factory, which was now a Luthorcorp fertiliser plant. 

Jonathan and Martha had been coming back from town when a meteor had struck the ground, very near to where the Queens’ car had stopped. The truck had overturned. Luckily, Robert had seen the accident and had immediately gone to help. 

Clark hadn’t known any of this until some years later. When his parents had disappeared, he and his brother had been sent to live with Martha and Jonathan. Laura had wanted her boys to be raised in a ‘normal environment’, rather than grow up spoiled. 

Oliver hadn’t taken so well to farm life. He’d been a moody teenager, on the cusp of adolescence. He had wanted to stay at his boarding school in Metropolis, but Jonathan wouldn’t hear of it. The older boy had started freshman year at Smallville High. His attitude hadn’t improved by the time he graduated. Instead of spending a summer working on the farm, he decided he was old enough to do what he wanted and that was partying on a yacht owned by Queen Industries. 

That was the last Clark had seen of his brother. Grief-stricken over losing his brother just a few short years after losing his parents, he had begun acting up. Jonathan had finally taken him aside and told him the truth about his adoption, explaining why his parents had chosen for him and his brother to be raised in Smallville if anything happened to them. The Kents had known the truth about Clark and agreed to protect him. 

“Hey Queen,” a voice said almost nastily. “Stop staring at my girl.”

Clark looked up and glared at the tow-headed jock. 

“I wasn’t staring at your girl, Fordman,” he replied. 

“Yeah, well, whatever. Loser.” He looked around at the young brunette talking with Martha. “By the way, I need that necklace back. It’s Lana’s favourite.”

“Well, you better go back to the cornfield and look for it,” Clark told him. 

“You don’t have it?” Whitney’s voice was almost a squeak as he realised how much trouble he would be in if his girlfriend learned he’d somehow lost her favourite necklace. 

Clark had so many choice words he wanted to say to the jock. If the other boy hadn’t chosen him as the Scarecrow, then he wouldn’t be in trouble with Lana. 

“She’s gonna kill me if she finds out …” Whitney wailed. 

“Well, gee, that’s too bad.” Clark turned away, almost knocking Lex over. “Oh, Lex. Didn’t see you there.”

He helped Martha and Jonathan pack up. Lex walked with him.

“You want to tell me what that was all about last night?” he said. 

“Just a stupid prank,” Clark said. “By some friends of mine.” That was a lie, but he didn’t feel the need to explain himself to the man.

“Yeah?” The bald man raised an eyebrow. “Well, if that’s what a friend does to you, I’d hate to see their enemies.”

Jonathan approached them. “Clark, what is holding you up? Oh, hello Lex. I heard you’d moved here.”

“Yeah, my father’s idea of ‘introducing me to the business’,” he replied, rolling his eyes. Clark smirked. He’d read in some article that Lex had been expelled from Metropolis University over an incident which had been very quickly hushed up. The older man had told him he’d wanted to do anything but work with his father.

Clark followed the two men to the stall where Martha was selling someone a basket of produce. 

“Oh, Lex, how are you, dear? I heard you had an accident the other day.”

Clark looked at the man, raising an eyebrow. “What’s this?”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Lex replied. “I just lost control of my car.”

“Well, I can’t say I’m surprised with the way you drive, son,” Jonathan joked. The bald man shot him a dirty look but the farmer just laughed. Clark had heard the couple talking about the way Lionel treated his son and they’d always tried to be friendly with the younger man. 

“Sounded to me like it was more than that,” Chloe interjected, coming up behind them. She’d obviously heard part of the conversation. She was pretty with blonde hair worn in a very short style which suited her face shape, making her green eyes the most prominent feature. 

Lex turned to stare at her. “And you are?”

“Chloe Sullivan. My dad is your plant manager.”

Lex nodded. “Oh. Of course. What were you saying?”

“I have a contact at Smallville Med,” she told him. “Oh, I also edit the Torch.”

Lex looked even more confused. “The Torch?”

“It’s the school paper,” Clark told him. “Chloe, shut up.”

The blonde reporter shook her head and clearly refused to back off. As much as Clark enjoyed her insatiable curiosity, there were some moments when she just didn’t know when to quit. 

“My contact said you not only drove your car off of Loeb Bridge, but you also drowned. If that idiot truck driver who actually caused the accident hadn’t pulled you out, you’d be dead.”

She went on to explain that the accident had happened when some baling wire had fallen off the truck and rolled into the road. Lex had tried to avoid it, only for one of his tyres to blow out and he lost control of his Porsche. The truck driver had already admitted fault for the unsecured load. 

Lex looked uncomfortable as Martha immediately began looking him over with concern.

“Lex, my goodness! I do hope you were thoroughly checked out at the hospital.”

“Uh, yes, ma’am, I was. I’m fine. Just a couple of bruised ribs, that’s all. I consider myself very lucky.”

Chloe turned to Clark. “We’re going to the Beanery. Wanna come?” From her demeanour, it seemed like she had something important she wanted to talk to him about. Clark saw Pete and Abby looking at a stall a few feet away.

He looked guiltily at his guardian. “Um, I kinda have to stay here and help,” he said. 

Jonathan clapped a hand on his back. “You’ve earned the rest of the day off, son. Just don’t forget you have chores later.”

“Yes sir.”

He went with his friends to the town’s coffee shop. Chloe ordered herself some coffee, a complicated concoction that apparently consisted of about four shots of espresso and some kind of syrup. It was a joke among the Losers Club that Chloe was so addicted to the stuff that they swore instead of red blood she had coffee in her veins. 

As they all sat in a booth, Clark looked at his friend. 

“So, what’s up?” he asked, wondering if she’d somehow discovered that he’d been responsible for the truck pile the night before. 

Instead of talking about the dance, she began talking about her cousin. Lois Lane was a few months older than Clark and was a sophomore. Her father had been in the army.

“Well, you know how Uncle Sam died a few months ago?” she said. 

Clark frowned, then remembered. Lois’ father had been out on inspection when the jeep he’d been travelling in had crashed into a ditch. The general had fallen out and hit his head. He’d lain in a coma for several days before he’d passed away. 

Chloe explained that it had taken time to settle everything to do with the accident and what little there was of Sam Lane’s estate. Lois’ mother had died years before. Lois had been living with the family of one of the officers on the last base her father had been stationed at. 

“So, what’s going on?” Abby asked. Clark smiled at her. She had terrible acne which marred her pretty face and had shaken her confidence but she was sweet and funny and he’d always liked her. When the jerks tried to bully her, he was always the one who would put a stop to it. As much as the other guys called him a loser for hanging out with the rest of the losers, they usually backed off. Clark was the tallest guy in his year and he could be intimidating if it wasn’t for the fact that he was tripping over his big feet most of the time. 

“Lois is coming to live with my dad and me,” Chloe announced.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois is packing to leave army life behind.

Lois dumped the last piece of clothing in her suitcase and pulled the top flap over to close it. She reached for the zipper, pulling it, but it wouldn’t budge. The pile of clothing was bigger than the case itself and the top bulged. She tried pushing it down but to no avail. She turned around and tried sitting on it but even her own body weight was not enough to push it all down and make it manageable so she could pull the zipper closed. 

The door to her room opened and a woman came in.

“They’re at the gate,” she began, stopping to stare at Lois as she struggled with the suitcase. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to get this stupid thing closed,” Lois replied. 

The woman, who worked as an administrator on base, frowned. She was probably in her early forties and would have been attractive if her skin didn’t look so leathery. She gestured impatiently at Lois to get off the suitcase and glared at it as if that would make the clothes behave. She stood with her hands on her hips. 

“Well, you’re never going to get it closed that way. It’s much too full.” She lifted up the flap and gazed at the contents. “Ugh, no wonder you can’t close it. Did you just dump all your clothes in here?”

Lois shrugged. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t done it before. She’d travelled halfway around the world before she was twelve. 

As much as she liked Keira, the past couple of months living with her had been difficult. The brass in the army had refused to let her be by herself after her father’s accident, saying she was a minor. Lois was fifteen and had been taking care of herself since she was six, but that didn’t matter to them. They’d left her in the care of the woman who ran her father’s office with militant precision.

Keira was career army. She’d joined at eighteen and was probably the most unfeminine woman Lois had ever met. Not that Lois considered herself very feminine anyway. Keira was married to another career army man and they had two kids who were loud and annoying. 

When the general had passed away, never having regained consciousness, Keira had offered a detached sort of sympathy. Death was a part of everyday life in the army and most of the soldiers didn’t really have time to get emotional about losing a colleague. It was almost as if the older woman had expected Lois to just carry on as normal, even though her world had just completely fallen apart. 

Lois knew life had to go on, but rather like when her mother died, she half-expected the world to freeze for even a moment, just to acknowledge the loss. Of course, her father would have just told her to be a good soldier and ‘buck up’. Lois didn’t want to buck up. 

Kiera pulled the clothes out, tut-tutting as she began folding the clothes neatly. Lois ignored her and went to stare out the window. The houses in the street just looked like average family homes. Most of them appeared to be clones of the next one, except for the exterior colours. 

A woman in fatigues got out of a car in a driveway across the street and looked over, waving in greeting. Lois nodded in reply. Sally was a corporal who had served under General Lane and had always been friendly to Lois. She was about ten years older and had two very young children. Her husband was an officer. Sally had been on maternity leave when the general had passed away and had been stunned when she had heard what had happened. 

Kiera was talking about … something. Lois hadn’t even bothered to listen to the older woman.

“Are you listening to me?”

She turned and looked at the woman. Today was the day when she would be leaving army life behind her forever.

“What?”

“I asked you if you were looking forward to going to live with your cousin.”

Lois snorted. “My cousin lives in Podunk, USA.”

Kiera scowled. “You could at least be grateful. You could have been placed in a foster home. At least you’ll be with family.”

That was true, she supposed. She and Chloe had always been close. She had been too young to remember when her aunt had had an accident while travelling through Smallville. Aunt Moira had ended up with a couple of bruised ribs and a sprained ankle, but then three-year-old Chloe, who had been in the car with her, hadn’t had a scratch on her. All Lois knew was that the accident had been caused by a freak meteor shower. 

Her mother, Ella, had packed up Lois and her little sister Lucy and driven to Metropolis to help her sister. 

At least Lucy didn’t have to worry about being dumped in the middle of a small town in Kansas, Lois thought. Her sister was back at boarding school in Switzerland where she was in eighth grade. Lois would have given anything to have been allowed the same opportunity as Lucy, but for some reason the general had kept her with him. 

Lois could barely remember what her parents’ relationship was like. She’d been six when her mother had been admitted to hospital with cancer. Ella had spent five weeks there before she’d died. The general, or rather the colonel as he had been then, had been stoic, telling his daughters that as long as they followed the rules and executed the chain of command then they would all get along fine. 

A green sedan was being driven slowly down the street, pausing as the driver looked at the numbers on the houses. Eventually it turned into the driveway of the house she was in. Keira, having heard the sound of the car, looked out the window. 

“That’s them,” she said. 

Lois watched as a blonde girl a few inches shorter than her got out of the car and looked toward the house. Keira went out to greet the visitors. Sighing, Lois turned away from the window and went out to join them. 

“Lois!” Chloe’s greeting was effusive as she stepped out on the porch. The blonde came forward, her arms held out to wrap around her in a hug. 

Gabe Sullivan, a dark-haired man in his early forties, placed a hand on her arm as she tried to gently extricate herself from her cousin’s enthusiastic hug. 

“Hello Lois. How are you doing?”

She shrugged. Kiera shot her a dirty look, obviously telling her she was being rude for not answering her uncle’s query. 

They all went into the house. Lois lagged behind her cousin, not even listening as Keira asked her uncle how long they’d been travelling and what they had planned next. 

“Chloe has school and I could only get Monday off so we’ll stay in a motel somewhere overnight and head back to Smallville in the morning,” Uncle Gabe was saying. “I want Lois to have a day to get settled before she starts school.” He turned and smiled reassuringly at her.

Lois did not want to go to Smallville. She didn’t want to go to Smallville High and be stuck in the sophomore class where she didn’t know anyone. It had been bad enough when her father was alive and changing schools every couple of years. 

By the time they left the base, the sun was setting. Lois sat in the back of the car with Chloe, who tried to engage her in conversation. Lois didn’t feel like talking. She knew if she did she would just start crying. And Lanes weren’t supposed to cry. They were supposed to be tough and strong. 

“So I guess you’ll be a soph at school, but you can still hang out with us. I mean it’s cool, if you don’t mind hanging out at the Torch.”

“The Torch?” Lois asked, curious in spite of her resolve not to talk.

“Yeah, the school paper. I’m editor.”

Lois frowned at her cousin, wondering why the principal would allow a freshman to edit the paper. Chloe went on to explain that because she’d already been working on school newspapers since third grade and had also submitted stories to the Daily Planet, which had been accepted, Principal Kwan had decided she had more than enough experience. 

“So who works on the paper with you?” she asked tentatively.

“Well, there’s Pete, who does the photos. Sometimes. He can be a bit of a lazy ass sometimes so you have to give him a good kick in the butt. Same with Clark, but he’s sort of got an excuse because he has to work on the farm.”

“The farm?”

“Yeah. He and his brother – well, Oliver’s sort of been missing for about three years now, went to live with the Kents when Clark was six and Ollie was like twelve or thirteen. Clark’s sort of rich. Well, not really. I mean, the Queens were like the richest family in Star City – that’s where Clark lived until they died …”

Chloe chattered on and Lois became lost at the way her cousin talked in circles. She barely managed to follow along. From what she could glean from it all, Clark was Chloe’s best friend, and teenage crush, although Clark probably wasn’t aware of her feelings. His parents’ plane had gone down somewhere in the Pacific and the couple had been presumed dead. Clark’s older brother was also missing. She managed to learn from Chloe that a person had to be missing about seven years before they were officially declared dead. 

Then there was Abby, another freshman. She helped out in the Torch office although she didn’t write for the paper. Together, the four of them were called the Losers Club.

“Why the Losers Club?” she asked. 

“Well, we could have gone for the Scooby Gang but since we’re more of a literary group than a chasing vampires kind of group, it sounded better.” Lois easily understood the reference. Chloe was a fan of a tv show about a girl who slayed vampires. She had a small group of friends who were often referred to in the show as the ‘Scooby Gang’.

“Why?”

“You know, from the book. It.”

Lois shook her head. She didn’t know the book, although she’d heard about it. She liked some horror films but had never liked Stephen King. Apparently the kids in the book were known as the Losers Club, because they were the school losers. 

Chloe kept up a steady stream of chatter as they got ready for bed at the motel. Lois let her cousin go on, figuring the other girl would barely notice she wasn’t contributing much to the conversation. Chloe only shut up when her father told her to settle down and go to sleep. 

Lois lay in the bed she was sharing with the other girl, wishing she was anywhere else but here. Ever since her mother had died, she’d had a difficult relationship with her father. Yet she couldn’t help wishing he was still alive. It hurt, deep down, like a knot in her gut. I want my daddy, she wailed silently. 

She sniffled and wiped her nose roughly but the tears she had fought from the day she had watched her father’s coffin being lowered into the grave wouldn’t be suppressed. She was barely aware she was sobbing her heart out until she felt strong arms around her.

“It’s all right, sweetheart.” Her uncle patted her on the back. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

She felt her cousin sitting up in the bed beside her but she was too deep in her grief to care. She continued to cry, comforted by the strong presence of her uncle. She cried until she was too tired to cry anymore. 

She was still feeling exhausted when her uncle roused them the next morning. Chloe was quiet as they dressed and got ready to leave the motel. She kept shooting Lois looks as if worried she might burst into tears again, but Lois just got dressed and washed her face.

Her uncle gave her a quick hug before getting into the car. He was going to stop at a diner on the highway.

The trip back to Smallville would take roughly six hours, she was told. Lois had never been very good at geography, despite having lived on a few army bases all over the country. She was too tired to care, or even to look out the window at the passing scenery. It was all mostly just fields anyway, she thought. 

She picked at her pancakes in the diner, not feeling at all hungry. The diner itself reminded her of something she had seen in an old tv program, with booths lining the walls and an old jukebox in the corner. The red leather on the seats was cracked and worn, the colour badly faded. The formica tabletop where they were sitting was also scarred from years of abuse. She was sure if she put her hand under the top she would feel old pieces of chewing gum. 

“Are you not hungry, sweetheart?” her uncle asked. 

She chewed on her lip and tried for a bite, but it could have been cardboard for all she knew. It certainly wasn’t any worse than the meals her father had tried to cook sometimes. She remembered one time he’d tried to make pancakes but the batter had been almost raw. She’d tried not to complain, knowing he did his best, but he’d lost his temper. Sam Lane could be one mean son-of-a-bitch when he wanted to. Not that he had ever hit her. He’d yelled at her, but usually because she had failed in her duty to execute one of his commands. 

Thinking of her father had the tears welling up again. Lois hated crying. It was exhausting. 

The waitress approached their table and asked Uncle Gabe if the food was not up to scratch. Lois felt guilty for not eating her pancakes but she could barely find the energy to move, let alone eat. 

“It’s fine. My niece is just not feeling well. She just lost her father.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry. Perhaps we can put the pancakes in a container and she can eat them later if she’s feeling hungry.”

That did it. The tears began falling despite her best efforts to stop it. She hated it all. The looks of sympathy, the concern. She knew most people didn’t really mean it and were just saying words of sympathy because they thought they should. 

She fell asleep in the car not long after they left the diner, waking with a headache and a crick in her neck. Chloe was asleep beside her. She blinked and looked around. The scenery outside didn’t look any different from what they’d left.

“Where are we?” she asked, sitting up.

“We’re about a hundred miles out of Smallville,” her uncle replied. “How are you feeling sweetheart?”

“I’m okay, I guess. A little headache, but …”

“I’m not surprised. You slept for quite a while.” He told her to grab one of the bottles of water he had stored in the back of the car and asked if she was hungry. 

“Not really,” she answered, sipping the water. It wasn’t cold but it was still refreshing. “What time will we be in Smallville?”

“Probably not until close to four. We’ve been invited to the Kent Farm for dinner. I know it’s your first night and all, but it would do you good to have a decent home-cooked meal. And Martha Kent is the best cook in the county, or so I’ve heard.”

She didn’t want to go out to some stranger’s place for dinner, but she didn’t want to seem ungrateful to her uncle either. He was trying his best to help her come to terms with everything. It probably wasn’t easy taking in a girl who had just lost everything. 

Chloe woke up shortly after but didn’t chatter. Lois decided her cousin had figured she wasn’t in the mood to hear her going on about things as she just sat silently. Lois resumed looking out the window at the passing scenery. Despite the headache, the sleep had done some good and she didn’t feel as exhausted as she had earlier. 

They arrived at the outskirts of Smallville almost two hours later. It looked almost the same as every other small town Lois had seen. A small central business area and houses surrounding it. There were a few farms dotted around but nothing really aroused her interest.

Uncle Gabe drove by a huge complex which was owned by Luthorcorp. That was where he worked, he told her. He gave her a quick tour of the town, even passing by the town’s one and only high school. 

The house where she was going to live was in a new suburb of Smallville. A placard at the end of the block proudly proclaimed it to be ‘Pleasant Meadows: Another Luthorcorp Development’. A two-storey building in a street where almost all the houses looked the same, except for the way each family decorated the house exterior or kept their gardens. Uncle Gabe had apparently bought the house a few months earlier when he’d accepted a permanent contract to manage the Luthorcorp plant. 

Her uncle took her suitcase into the house and showed her the bedroom. The house had three bedrooms. Hers was the smallest, although it was still big enough to fit a double bed.

“Why don’t you leave your unpacking until tomorrow,” he suggested. “Just unpack what you need for tonight.”

She nodded. “Thanks.”

He reminded the two girls they were going to the Kents for dinner and to be ready in about an hour before leaving them to it. 

Chloe sat on the bed watching as Lois took a few things out of the suitcase.

“You okay?” she asked. 

Lois shrugged. “I guess.”

“You don’t have to pretend, you know. It’s me.”

“I know,” she said with a sigh. “I’m just …”

Her cousin got up from the bed and wrapped her arms around her in a hug. Lois fought not to pull away. She wasn’t used to gestures of affection, or comfort. She could barely remember ever getting any such affection from her father. 

Chloe must have decided a change of subject was in order and went to her room, returning with a pack of cards, announcing they should have a game of Go Fish. Lois followed her cousin’s lead, thankful for the distraction.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark has other things on his mind than being nice to their dinner guests.

Clark wasn’t annoyed as such by the news they were having guests for dinner, but he wasn’t in the mood for company either. He’d received a letter that day from the lawyer looking after his parents’ estate, saying the man appointed as CEO of Queen Industries wanted to declare his brother dead. It had only been three years since Oliver disappeared and he wasn’t ready to give up on his brother just yet. 

Some years ago, the boys had begged for their own space and Jonathan had built them a place in the loft of the barn. Clark used it mostly for studying these days, but it was nice to have somewhere he could go to where he could be by himself and not have to talk to anyone. The loft had an old couch and a desk where he could do his homework, as well as a couple of bookshelves. Unlike Oliver, who was more interested in archery than books, he could lie on the couch and read for hours.

He sat in the loft, staring at the last photo taken of his brother. It had been at graduation. The red and gold gown didn’t really suit his brother’s fair complexion. Clark, by contrast, had more of a golden skin tone and dark hair. When he had been little and with his parents, most people had commented on how much he looked like his dad, who had dark hair. Even though the news of his adoption had made the society pages, he figured people had forgotten. 

Oliver was smiling on the day of his graduation but Clark knew the smile was just for the camera. His brother had been a little bitter about the fact that he’d not been able to graduate with his friends at Excelsior Prep and instead had been forced to attend a public school. Even Clark had to admit that the older boy had been a bit spoiled. 

“Clark? Son, you need to finish your chores before dinner.”

Clark got up from the couch and looked over the railing at his guardian. “I did them.”

“No, you didn’t,” Jonathan replied. “The cows haven’t been fed and the stables haven’t been mucked out. I could really use some help with the tractor as well.”

Sighing, Clark sped down the stairs. “I don’t know why you don’t just go and buy a new tractor. It’s not like you couldn’t afford it. I mean, I could just write to the attorney and get you the money.”

“That’s not the point, Clark,” Jonathan told him. “Sometimes taking the easy route isn’t any better, it’s just easier.”

Clark grumbled to himself. Sometimes he hated Jonathan’s ‘country boy wisdom’. The tractor was always breaking down, but the man refused to replace it, saying there was still ‘life in the old girl’. 

He set to work helping Jonathan by lifting the tractor so the man could get underneath and fix a broken axle. Jonathan continued to talk to him as he worked.

“Now, you know Mr Sullivan is bringing his niece to dinner. I want you to be nice to her. She just lost her father.”

“Why? I mean, what if she’s not nice to me?”

“Clark, I shouldn’t have to explain these things.”

“So, what? She’s allowed to say anything she wants because her father died? How does that work?”

“I didn’t say that. Don’t twist my words, son.”

Sometimes it irritated him when Jonathan called him ‘son’. He’d never been officially adopted by the couple, so technically he wasn’t ‘theirs’. They were just his surrogate parents. He kept his feelings to himself, knowing it would just upset them. 

He finished his chores and returned to doing his homework. He didn’t usually leave doing his homework until the last minute but after the week he’d had, he really didn’t want to deal with any more schoolwork. A kid he’d known since childhood had suddenly turned psycho, trying to kidnap Lana, who he’d always had a major crush on. He’d attacked Clark who had tried to protect the young brunette. 

He was starting to learn there were distinct disadvantages to living in Smallville. There were meteor rocks everywhere and he was apparently allergic. He would rather be living in Star City so he could get away from the rock, but the Kents wouldn’t even consider moving. The farm had been in the Kent name for three generations and they weren’t about to give it up.

It was dark when he went to the house for dinner. Chloe and her dad were already there, talking to the Kents. A girl with dark honey-coloured hair was sitting on the couch looking miserable. Her face was pale and had that pinched look that told him she’d been crying. He guessed this was Lois. 

He could understand the whole crying thing. He’d cried plenty of times since his parents had disappeared. He’d tried not to do it when Oliver had gone missing. When someone was eleven, and a guy, crying was just not the thing to do.

“Hi,” he said, trying to be polite. “I’m Clark.”

She shrugged. “Whatever.”

Well, fine, he thought with a scowl. If that’s the way you’re going to be, then I’m not going out of my way to be nice to you. Whatever Jonathan said. He chose to turn away and ignore the girl.

“Oh, Clark, honey would you set the table please?”

He nodded at Martha’s request and went to grab the silverware and the placemats. He placed that around the table then went to grab glasses from the cupboard, setting them out as well. 

He didn’t mind doing chores most of the time. Jonathan didn’t make too many demands of him and he knew his parents would have wanted him to be good to the other couple. He remembered once when he was about four, they’d come to visit his mother’s cousin. He’d asked his mother why Martha didn’t have any children and she’d told him that there had been something wrong with Martha so having children wasn’t possible. 

The cousins had been close, rather like Chloe had told him she and Lois were. It was little wonder that Laura had decided her two sons would go to live with Martha if anything happened to her and Robert. 

They all sat down to dinner a short time later. Clark was sitting next to Lois and found her silence a little discomfiting. Chloe had mentioned that her cousin was quite talkative, so for her not to talk was unusual. He knew she was grieving, but felt it was a bit rude of her to not say anything at all. 

He finished his dinner quickly but noticed Lois had barely touched hers. 

“Lois, is the food not to your liking?” Martha asked gently. 

The girl pushed her plate away. “I’m not hungry,” she said.

Mr Sullivan looked at her. “Lois, sweetheart, you haven’t eaten a thing all day. You really should eat something.”

“I said I’m not hungry!” the girl snapped. Martha looked taken aback. Lois abruptly stood up from the table and walked out. Before the adults could get up, Clark went after her. 

She was sitting on the outside steps to the barn.

“That was kind of rude!”

“What do you care?” she said. 

He sat next to her. “Look, I get it, okay? My mom and dad died when I was a kid.”

She snorted. “Don’t pretend for a second you know how I feel!”

“Well, you don’t have to be a bitch about it!” he retorted.

She stared at him, her hazel eyes huge. For a moment he thought she was going to cry but she appeared to give herself a mental shake. She didn’t say anything in reply.

“I mean, your dad died. So what? At least you’ve got Chloe and her dad who cared enough to take you in. You can’t sit around sulking all the time.”

She gave a deep sigh, but didn’t reply. He went on.

“When me and my brother first came to live here, Jonathan said something I’ll never forget. He said that sometimes bad things happen to good people and you can’t change that. Feeling sorry for yourself won’t change it. Sometimes you just have to make the best of a bad situation. And like I said, you got Chloe and her dad. Starving yourself is just going to make them worry.”

He fell silent, letting her absorb the meaning of what he’d said. He was too young to remember what it was like when his parents had disappeared, but he could still remember when he got the news that Oliver was missing. He’d hated the way people walked on eggshells around him, as if he was going to break. Sure, it hurt, and the thought that he might never see his brother again was like a deep cut that could never really heal over, but the unending looks of sympathy were just constant reminders of the loss. 

“When does it stop hurting?” she asked quietly after a while.

“I don’t know if it ever does. Not totally. I guess sometimes you just learn to deal with the pain and it becomes like this dull ache that you can sometimes forget is there.”

She turned to look at him for a long moment. He studied her face. She was pretty, in an understated way. Her face was bare of make-up and showed the strain of everything that had happened to her in the past few weeks. 

She got up from the steps and went down, starting toward the house. She paused and looked at him again. It looked to him like she was saying thank you. 

He sat on the steps for a while, not sure if he should go back in. Jonathan came out of the house a little while later, clearly looking for him. 

“I don’t know what you said to her, son, but thank you.” He smiled and sat down. “It’s been pretty rough for you the last couple of years, hasn’t it?”

He nodded. That was pretty much an understatement. Oliver’s disappearance, then finding out the truth about his heritage had all been very overwhelming. “Yeah.” Jonathan must have noticed his tone was a little off as he sounded apologetic when he spoke again. 

“I’m sorry if I was a bit harsh with you earlier, Clark.”

“It’s not you,” he said quietly. “I got a letter. From the attorney.”

“I thought something was bothering you. What was in the letter?”

Clark explained. Jonathan was silent for a few moments when he finished, probably considering his response.

“What do you want to do?” he asked finally.

“I don’t know. I don’t want to give up on him.”

“Then don’t,” the blond man replied. “The man is paid to run your family’s company. That does not mean he is in charge of your family’s affairs.” 

“He won’t listen to me. I’m just a kid.”

“Then talk to Martha,” Jonathan suggested kindly. “She’ll set him straight.” The older man wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “If your brother is anything like your father, he’ll find his way back to us. Your dad always did say Oliver was as stubborn as him and twice as smart.”

Clark grinned. His father had often complained about how stubborn his brother was. 

The talk helped a lot. At least he knew the couple was on his side. It sounded crazy but somehow he just knew Oliver was still out there somewhere and if it was possible for him to come back home, he would. 

School the next day was quieter than usual without Chloe. She was staying at home to help her cousin unpack and get settled. Clark was in the Torch struggling with the printer. It was constantly jamming but the principal wouldn’t hear of replacing it. 

“Uh, hey, is Chloe here?”

Clark looked up, surprised to see the jock standing there. “Trevor? No, she’s out for the day. Why?”

The blond jock looked uncomfortable. “Uh, no reason. See you later.”

Clark sighed and shook his head. Most of the football players made fun of the newspaper, and especially Chloe. It seemed unusual for one of them to even come to the Torch office, let alone ask for the freshman editor.

Abby came in, dumping her bag on the old couch. The springs squeaked slightly as she flopped down beside her bag. Clark looked at her. 

“You okay? You seem kind of upset.”

She shrugged. “Between my mom and those jerks out there …”

“Is that guy Brett bullying you again?” he asked, knowing that the dark-haired freshman was one of the instigators of the teasing. “I can go talk to him if you want.”

“No, that’s okay,” she said. She frowned. “What are you doing to the printer?”

“It’s jammed.” He rolled his eyes. “I just can’t see what’s wrong with it.”

She got up. “Let me,” she said. He moved aside so she could take a look. She pulled out the paper tray and opened a flap, pulling out a paper that looked like it had been concertinaed. She closed the flap and the printer whirred into life. “There’s your paper jam,” she told him. 

“Thanks Abby. You’re a miracle worker.”

She beamed. “What would you do without me?” 

“Let’s never find out,” he replied, going back to the computer to finish the layout. Chloe had left strict instructions that he was to follow to the letter. Clark was not that bad with computers but between working on the farm and his schoolwork he didn’t have time for gaming. 

“So, I heard Chloe and her dad had dinner at your place last night.”

“Yeah. Along with Chloe’s cousin. Mr Sullivan didn’t feel like cooking after the long drive to pick her up.”

“So, what’s she like?” Abby asked, taking a container out of her bag and pulling out a carrot stick. She made a face but began eating, clearly wishing it was something other than a carrot.

Clark shrugged. “She’s okay, I guess. She was kind of quiet.”

“Who was?” Chloe asked, coming into the office.

“I thought you were off today?” he asked.

“I just had to come down and get Lois’ class schedule. We’re going to the Beanery later. Want to meet us there?”

Clark wondered if Lois was ready to be surrounded by people who would just give her sympathetic looks although he did think getting out and about was better than moping at home alone. 

“So, who were you talking about?” Chloe asked.

Clark shrugged. It wasn’t like he was actually saying anything bad about Lois.

“I was just telling Abby about Lois.”

“Oh. Yeah. You know, it’s been pretty tough for her, losing her dad and everything. She just needs time, I think.” She went on to say something about being kind to Lois and giving her space.

He wondered if that was really the right approach, but didn’t comment. She went on talking to Abby about the trip in the car and how she’d been trying to get her cousin to open up. Another thing that he felt was the wrong way to approach it. Forcing Lois to talk about her feelings was just as bad as trying to be sympathetic. 

Lois didn’t need sympathy. She just needed some sense of normality.

Pete had football practice after school got out. Clark had thought about trying to join the team himself but decided he had enough to worry about with some of the things he was required to do as the ‘heir’ to the Queen fortune. He hadn’t told Pete what his teammates had done to him. He would rather just forget about it, although he would never completely trust Whitney. 

The Beanery was busy but he and Abby managed to get a booth. Clark went up to the counter to order them some drinks. Abby wasn’t a coffee drinker and avoided sweets, although it hadn’t helped her acne any so she had ordered green tea. As he returned from paying for the drinks, he spotted Lex in one of the armchairs, studying some papers.

“Hey, Lex,” he said.

The bald man looked up. “Oh, Clark. Didn’t see you.”

“S’okay. You looked like you were doing some intense studying.”

Lex sighed, putting the paper down. “Yeah. My father wants me to cut some of my workforce.”

“How come?”

“Cost cutting.”

“Isn’t there any other way around it? Like cutting production costs or something?”

“When Lionel Luthor says jump, you’re supposed to ask ‘how high?’” He sighed again and looked annoyed. 

“Geez, sounds like a real fun guy,” he returned. Lex grinned at him.

“You have no idea.”

“Maybe I can take a look at the accounts or something.”

“This is more than a math problem, Clark.”

“Yeah, but ever since Ollie …” He paused, not really wanting to think about his brother. “I mean, I still get all the reports and stuff from the board and Martha helps me with stuff I don’t understand. I bet between the three of us we could work out something that will cut your expenses and get around your dad. I mean, he tells you to lay off some of your workers, then what next? Closing down the plant?”

Lex considered it for a few moments.

“Thanks, Clark, but I’m not sure the old man will see it that way.”

“Yeah, but you can’t just give in to him. He sent you down here to manage the plant, so you should have a say in what happens there. Otherwise he’s just micro-managing you. Anyway, you can always say that by cutting your workforce, your production goes down, and so does your profit. By cutting costs somewhere else, your profits increase without affecting production.”

The older man studied him. “You make a very good point. Guess those lessons in business management came in handy.”

Clark frowned, wondering how Lex knew he’d been studying a little about business management. 

“Clark, your coffee’s getting cold.”

He looked around and noticed Chloe and Lois were sitting at the table with Abby. Lex followed his gaze.

“Who’s that?” he asked. “The brunette, I mean.”

“Chloe’s cousin. Lois Lane. She just came to live with Chloe and her dad.”

“Where are her parents?”

“Her mom died a long time ago and her dad died in an accident just recently.”

Lex nodded. “Poor kid.”

“Yeah. I better go.”

“Well, thanks for the suggestion, Clark. I’ll think about it.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois gets to know the Losers Club

Lois hadn’t wanted to go to the Beanery with Chloe. All she wanted was to just stay in her room and let herself adjust to this new life. She’d tried to beg off, but her cousin wouldn’t hear of it. 

It was little wonder Chloe was the editor of the school newspaper. She was very persistent, although the general would have called it stubborn. It was apparently a family trait on her mother’s side. 

As soon as they arrived at the Beanery, which Lois quickly figured out was a coffee shop – coffee, beans, go figure – Chloe began looking around. She waved to a girl with dark blonde hair who was sitting in one of the booths. The girl waved back and her cousin began walking toward the table. Lois followed behind. 

They passed a group of jocks who began making what sounded like dog howls. Lois paused and glared at them. Chloe’s step faltered just a little but she carried on. 

She remembered her cousin saying something about her little group being known as the Losers Club, but she didn’t think it deserved whatever the jocks were trying to imply. 

“Assholes,” she muttered, just as she got to the table. The girl now sitting opposite her cousin stared at her. The look was almost fearful. 

“What?” the girl said. 

“I meant those jerks,” she replied, nodding her head toward the group as she sat down. The other girl nodded, appearing confused.

A waitress set two cups on the table. She then turned to speak to someone standing talking to a bald man. Lois couldn’t tell who the guy was from behind but he was tall with dark hair. 

Lois explained what she’d overheard. Chloe didn’t comment, looking almost resigned.

“Oh, they always do that,” the girl replied, sounding like she was used to it and even worse, accepting of it. Lois was immediately pissed on the girl’s behalf. No one should have to put up with crap like that, she thought. The girl went on, indicating a boy with dark wavy hair. “Especially that guy.” Lois looked at him. He wasn’t that cute. He was staring at them with an arrogant smirk. 

Lois glared back. “What are you staring at, you piece of sh …”

Chloe quickly grasped her wrist and pulled her down to sit beside her. “Lo, let’s not and just say we did.” She turned to the girl. “Abby, this is my cousin, Lois. Lo, this is Abby.”

“Wow!” Abby looked impressed. “I wish I could talk back to those guys like that.”

“You just stay as sweet as you are,” Clark said, coming to sit beside Abby in the booth. He smiled at Lois and she realised he was the one who had been speaking to the other man. Abby blushed at the compliment and fidgeted with her glasses. She was clearly not used to compliments, even from someone who was obviously a close friend. 

Lois wondered if the two of them were going out. From the way they seemed so familiar with each other, she could almost see them being girlfriend and boyfriend. Abby would be very pretty if it wasn’t for the acne scarring on her face. That was something only time and some good skin treatment would take care of.

“Clark’s our resident knight-in-shining-armour,” Chloe told her. “Always ready to defend the honour of yon fair maidens.”

Clark rolled his eyes and laughed. 

“So, where’s Pete?” Chloe asked. 

“He had football practice.” Clark scowled as he looked at the three boys at the table. “I guess those guys decided they were too good to stick around.”

“Actually, I think those are the guys that Kwan suspended,” Chloe confided. 

Lois bit her lip. She noticed Clark and Abby had drinks already.

“Uh, why don’t I get us some coffees,” she told her cousin. Since she was sitting on the outside edge of the booth, it made sense for her to go up and order.

“Sure, Lo,” Chloe said distractedly, already talking to Abby about something that happened at school.

Lois got up, glancing at Clark, but he was listening to his friends and didn’t look up. She started for the counter to give the woman her order. As she waited for the customer ahead of her to give what sounded like a very complicated order, she felt the presence of someone behind her. 

She turned. It was the bald man. 

“Uh, hello,” she said.

He smiled. For some reason it made Lois feel a little uncomfortable. It was almost a shark’s grin. Lois had seen plenty of movies about sharks to know what it looked like. 

“Lex Luthor,” he said, holding out his hand. Lois shook it for politeness’ sake. “I hear you just moved here.”

“Um, yeah,” she said. “Excuse me,” she added as the customer finally moved away and she gave her own order. 

Lex continued to hover. How old was he, anyway? she wondered. 

“I just moved here myself,” Lex told her. She didn’t answer, not sure what he expected from her. “Clark told me about your father,” he continued. “If there’s anything I can do to help make your transition in Smallville easier …”

“Uh, thanks, but I’ve got my cousin,” she said, not sure what else she was supposed to say. “Um, it was nice to meet you, Mr Luthor.”

“Call me Lex,” he said with a smile. His gaze throughout the brief conversation had been kind of intense and she didn’t know how to react. She fought a shudder and brushed by him to get back to the table. 

Clark frowned at her as she sat down but didn’t ask what was wrong. He had clearly seen the exchange between her and Lex. 

It was one thing she found she liked about the guy. He understood her in ways that Chloe never could. They’d both lost family and that gave them something in common. He also didn’t look at her with sympathy and constantly ask her if she was okay; something that was becoming increasingly irritating. She hated people acting like she was fragile. 

It was a contradiction of sorts, she thought. She’d hated the army way of shrugging it off and just moving on, but she also got annoyed when people would act like they had to walk on eggshells around her. She wanted to scream at them and tell them she wouldn’t break and would just rather be left alone. 

At least Clark seemed to understand that. 

She wondered what had happened to his brother. From what Chloe had said, it had been about three years since he disappeared. She didn’t know what she’d do if something ever happened to Lucy. They didn’t always get along, but she still cared about her sister. 

The waitress came over with their coffees and she sipped hers quietly, listening to the conversation around her. Chloe was talking about some story she was working on – something about favouritism in sports. Lois’ attention was caught when her cousin asked Clark a question about a scarecrow.

Clark looked taken aback.

“How did you hear about that?” he said. 

Abby stared at Clark in concern. “They picked you for the scarecrow? Why didn’t you say something? You really should go to Principal Kwan.”

“And what’s he going to do?” Chloe said. “It’s not like he does anything about the bullying that goes on.”

Lois nodded. “There was something like that at my old school,” she said. “This kid got beaten up and he tried to kill himself.”

“Well, gee, thanks for that cheery note, cuz,” Chloe replied. “Anyway …”

Clark interjected. “I don’t think Lois was finished,” he said. He smiled at her. “Go ahead.”

“Well I wasn’t going to say much more, but they found out that this guy had been bullied for ages. The kids on the bus would pick on him and stuff and he left a note saying he couldn’t take it anymore.”

“Was the school on the base?” Abby asked.

She shook her head. “No, it was just a regular school. I hated those guys. I walked home rather than catch the bus. They always tried to bully the army brats too. I told my dad about it but he just told me kids needed to toughen up.”

“It’s not that simple though,” Clark said. 

“What’s the scarecrow thing?” Lois asked, figuring she’d said enough already.

“The football players choose a freshman and take him out to Miller’s Field,” Clark said. She listened as he described how they would strip the student down to his underwear and tie him to a post. It sounded almost to Lois like a crucifixion. 

“Why did they pick you?” she said.

“It wasn’t all the jocks. Just this guy, Whitney. He’s going out with this girl who lives near the farm. I walked her home one night.”

“So, he was jealous? What an asshole! Maybe you should have said something. Like to Mr Kent,” she said, feeling horrible for Clark being put in such a situation. 

“I don’t know. I mean, Jonathan played football when he was at Smallville High. I think he knows about the hazing, but figured it was just supposed to be all in fun.”

“That doesn’t sound like much fun,” she said. 

“You’re right. It isn’t.”

She wondered what she was going to be in for when she started school the next day. Clark must have seen her face as he put a hand on hers.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “If anyone gives you a hard time, you let me know. We may be the Losers Club but I won’t let anything happen to the others. Besides, it takes a lot to beat me down.”

It sounded to her like he would take whatever was dished out to protect his friends. Which was great and everything but just because he was a big guy didn’t mean he should have to take it. 

Chloe came into her room later that evening. She sat on the bed while Lois was stowing some of her things in the closet. She turned and looked at her cousin.

“What?”

“Nothing. I just … you and Clark seemed to hit it off pretty well.”

She frowned. “So? He seems like a good guy. A little, you know, straight-arrow, but …” She wondered if her cousin was jealous. She remembered Chloe talking about Clark in some of their phone calls and had always had the feeling the other girl wished it was different. “He’s kind of protective.”

“Yeah. He is, but it’s kind of nice, though.”

Lois didn’t really think she needed a protector. She’d basically been taking care of herself from the age of six and knew how to defend herself. 

“Um, are he and Abby, you know … dating?”

Chloe frowned. “No. Why would you think that?”

“They just seem really friendly.”

“Oh. Well, there was this pep rally and Abby was the mascot. The jocks were making fun of her and Clark told them to leave her alone. Guys like Whitney kind of hate him because his family is richer than anybody, well, except for the Luthors, and he doesn’t act like he’s better than anyone else.”

Lois frowned at her cousin. She could see that. Some rich guys could act kind of pretentious, but Clark just seemed like a normal guy. If she hadn’t already known about his family’s wealth, she would have thought it too. 

“So, they pick on him?”

“Yeah. Sometimes. I mean, I guess they think he should be doing more for the town, but it’s not like he actually has access to all that money. Most of it’s tied up in investments and stuff and any cash assets are in a trust until he turns eighteen.”

She bit her lip. Chloe seemed to know an awful lot about Clark’s financial status. 

“Did Clark just tell you this?”

Her cousin huffed. “Well, no, I kind of did some research.” She looked affronted when Lois shot her a look. “What? I like to know this stuff!”

“It’s kind of an invasion of privacy, Chloe.”

“Well, if I’m gonna be a reporter at the Daily Planet someday, I better know how to research somebody’s background.”

“Still, that’s not really fair. I mean, don’t you think Clark would be upset if he found out exactly how much you know?”

Her cousin sighed. “Yeah, I guess you’ve got a point. It’s not like the Luthors. I mean, they’re practically in the society pages every other week, whereas Clark kind of keeps a low profile.” She sucked in her lower lip. “Uh, speaking of the Luthors, I saw you talking to Lex earlier.”

“Yeah, he came over to introduce himself. Has he always been that creepy?”

Chloe looked concerned. 

“Creepy? What did he say to you?”

“Oh, just something about helping make my transition easier. The way he was looking at me was kind of intense.”

Her cousin nodded sagely.

“Uh, yeah, he is like that, from what I’ve heard. Don’t take it to heart.”

“Why shouldn’t I? I didn’t like him.”

“I just mean that he can be a little arrogant. I remember there used to be a lot of stories about him in the tabloids when we were living in Metropolis.”

She supposed she could understand. While she didn’t know anything about the Luthors, she had met one or two people who had come from similar backgrounds and they had been just as arrogant. 

She sighed and sat on the bed. She really was not looking forward to going to school tomorrow. Since she was a sophomore, she wouldn’t share any of her classes with the Losers Club. Then again, it wasn’t as if she hadn’t started a new school before. She would just have to treat it the same as every other time. 

“Girls, it’s getting late. You should be getting to bed.”

“Dad, it’s only nine-thirty,” Chloe called out in protest. 

Uncle Gabe poked his head in the gap between the door and the frame. 

“And you both have to be up early for school tomorrow,” he said. “Since this is Lois’ first day, I think she’d want to get a good night’s sleep.”

Chloe grumbled but got up. “Fine. See you in the morning, Lo.”

“Yeah,” she said, nodding, watching as her cousin went out. 

Uncle Gabe smiled at her. “You okay, kiddo?”

“I’m fine. Just not looking forward to school tomorrow.”

He came in and gave her a quick hug. “You’ll be okay. Chloe and her friends will look after you.”

“Thanks,” she said. He was trying too hard to make her feel more comfortable but she couldn’t fault him for that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All I'll say about Lex is, there is a point to everything he does. 
> 
> I don't go into detailed explanations about certain things that happen in canon, as this chapter is told from Lois' p.o.v, so she wouldn't be listening to some of it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Lois' first day

Clark was relieved that it had been a quiet day for once. Maybe the jocks were more worried about the trouble they were in. He’d heard the rumours that some of them had been caught cheating on a test, because someone had supplied them the answers. Principal Kwan had refused to let them play football until he’d investigated the matter. 

The rest of the school usually left the gang to their own devices. Like any other school, it had its cliques, but most of them didn’t mix with the rest outside of class. 

Clark went to the Torch office intending to finish an article he was supposed to be writing. He had managed to write a few paragraphs before Lois came in and flopped down on the couch, sighing heavily. 

He hadn’t seen her much that day, but figured since it was her first day she was still trying to get her bearings. He had heard some of the other students talking about the ‘new girl’ since it was a rare occurrence. Most of the locals, as much as they loved the town, often wondered aloud why anyone would choose to move to Smallville. Especially from the big city. 

Chloe had faced some of the same problems when her father had moved them from Metropolis. Even in middle school, the other students had treated her like she was an alien. Clark had had similar treatment although since he’d only just started school when his parents had died, the kids had been more curious than suspicious. Plus the fact that he was an orphan twice over gave him a free pass. 

Smallville could be kind of parochial. The locals tended to treat outsiders as if they were interlopers until they proved themselves. Even Martha had been treated the same way, despite marrying Jonathan, whose family had lived in Smallville almost since the town was first developed. 

He sometimes wondered if that was the reason most of the kids called them the Losers Club. With the exception of Pete, all of them had been born away from Smallville. It didn’t matter when they came to the town. They were all outsiders. Pete was treated that way because he was one of a small number of African-American students at the school. Plus the fact he’d been friends with Clark since their first day together in the first grade.

Pete’s family dated back to the Civil War when his great-great-great-grandfather had served with one of the then-titled Colored Regiments, serving in Kansas. After the war, he’d chosen to settle in Smallville. The town was the same as any other town. It had its share of bigots. 

Clark finished typing and looked up. Lois was looking a little disgruntled. “Tough day?”

“Ugh! I had to go see the guidance counsellor. He kept asking me about my dad and how I was doing. Why can’t people just leave me the hell alone?”

“Yeah, they did it to me when we found out Ollie was missing,” he said. “I think they do it so the school can look like they’re doing the best for the students.”

Lois wrinkled her nose, letting him know exactly what she thought of that idea.

“Or they’re just trying to make sure I don’t have a breakdown or something! Why do people always have to act like I’m a fragile butterfly?”

“The worst thing is the looks,” he said. “You know, where they do the head tilt and say: ‘you okay?’.”

She laughed. “Yeah, I’ve seen that head tilt.” She picked up her bag and took out an orange, beginning to peel it. “Chloe should have warned me about the cafeteria food.”

“That’s why I brown bag it,” he told her with a chuckle. “Think I want food poisoning?”

Not that he could actually get food poisoning, he thought. Lois didn’t need to know that. No one except the Kents and Oliver knew about his abilities and that was the way he wanted to keep it. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his friends. He just felt it was better them not knowing. 

“Oh God, don’t even go there!” she replied, her sour mood appearing to be improving by the second. “Have you ever tried army food?”

“Can’t say that I have,” he replied. He had watched his fair share of military-related movies and television shows and they all implied the food was horrible. “Tell you what. I’ll see if I can sneak a little something extra in my lunches and share it with you.”

Lois beamed at him. 

“You, my friend, have a deal.”

“What deal?” Chloe asked, entering the office.

“Nothing,” Lois told her cousin. 

“We were just talking about the cafeteria food,” Clark said. 

“Oh, yeah, I probably should have warned you not to touch the meatloaf,” Chloe replied. 

“At least it’s not green,” Clark interjected. “It’s been known to be that colour from time to time.”

Lois groaned and clutched at her stomach. “Ooh, not while I’m eating!” 

Chloe nudged Clark out of the seat. “Let’s see what you messed up while I was out yesterday.”

He mock-glared at her. Chloe didn’t like anyone taking over her job. 

“I didn’t mess up anything, thank you very much. Last time I do you any favours, Miss Editor.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “All you did was type up the lunch menu. I would hardly call that ground-breaking news.”

“Whatever!” he retorted. “As if you would let anyone else touch your precious paper anyway!”

“Damn straight,” she returned. 

“Are you always this territorial?” Lois asked her cousin, handing Clark a wedge of orange. 

Clark smirked at the brunette as he popped the wedge in his mouth. “Oh, you bet she is. Don’t get between her and her future journalism career.”

“Hey, at least I know where I’m going,” Chloe said. “Can you say the same?”

He sighed. The last thing he wanted was to run Queen Industries, but with Oliver gone, it looked like he wouldn’t have much of a choice. He supposed he could leave the current CEO in the position. It would be a good seven or eight years before he would have to decide what to do with the company anyway. It wasn’t like Jonathan and Martha were pushing him to make any firm decisions yet, saying he should wait until he went to college. 

“On that note, I’m out of here. Lois?”

“I’m supposed to wait for Chloe,” she said, rolling her eyes. It seemed she was already familiar with her cousin’s one-track mind when it came to the newspaper.

Chloe waved her hand. “Don’t sweat it. I’m gonna be here another couple of hours at least.”

Clark didn’t think Lois would want to hang around school waiting for her cousin to finish on the paper. 

“We’ll have missed the bus, but I can walk you home.”

Lois frowned at him. “Isn’t it out of your way?”

“I live on a farm. I think I can handle it.” He figured he could run home after he’d left her at the door.

The girl considered it for a few moments. “Okay. You sure you don’t want me to stay, Chlo?”

“Don’t worry about me,” her cousin replied, her eyes locked to the screen. She was already absorbed in what she was doing and likely wouldn’t miss them leaving. 

They walked through the darkening streets, chatting quietly. The subject eventually came around to his home life. 

“So, I don’t get the connection between you and the Kents.”

“Well, Martha was my mom’s cousin,” he said. Martha’s mother and Laura’s mother had been cousins as well. Laura’s family had also come from Metropolis. She’d only moved to Star City when she’d married Robert. 

“So, your family owned like this big company in Star City? How come Jonathan makes you do chores on the farm?”

“I guess it’s his way of getting me to appreciate what I have. He’s always saying that hard work keeps a man honest.”

“Wow, does that sound like a cliché,” she remarked. “I don’t envy you.”

“Gee, thanks. I’m touched,” he replied sarcastically.

She laughed. She had a nice laugh. He changed the subject and began talking about a film he’d gone to see during summer vacation, asking her if she’d seen it. They were discussing the merits of various movies when he heard the beep of a car horn. A Porsche pulled up beside them. 

Lex leaned out of the driver’s side window and smiled. 

“Hello Clark. Lois. May I offer you a ride?”

Lois immediately tensed. Clark had seen her brief exchange with Lex the day before and had the impression she didn’t like him much. 

“No, we’re fine,” he said. 

“Are you sure?” Lex asked, eyeing Lois with a curious gaze. “It’ll be dark soon.”

It was barely four-thirty, Clark thought. It wouldn’t start getting dark for another hour at least. 

“Thanks, but I don’t mind walking,” Lois replied. 

Lex shrugged as if it was their loss. He drove off in a manner that seemed to suggest he didn’t like their answers. 

“What is with that guy?” she muttered. 

“I don’t know. I only see him at some of those social things I have to go to. I mean, I know he just moved here. Maybe he’s just trying to be friendly. I mean, you’re both new in town,” he added, although he didn’t really buy that as an excuse. 

“There’s friendly and then there’s being kind of creepy,” she said. 

He had no idea what to say to that. Chloe had mentioned her cousin’s ill-feeling toward the man but hadn’t been able to come up with any reasonable explanation for Lex’s behaviour. 

He left Lois at the house and ran to the farm. Jonathan frowned at him.

“You’re late,” he said.

“I was walking Lois home,” he told the older man, who raised an eyebrow.

“Is this something we need to talk about?” he asked.

Clark almost rolled his eyes. They’d already had the birds and the bees talk when he was ten. He didn’t need to tell the older man that he was not looking to date anyone just yet. He liked the girls he hung out with, but as far as he was concerned they were just friends. Not that they weren’t all pretty, in their own way. Even Abby. While the girl had self-esteem issues thanks to her pushy cosmetologist mother and the constant bullying, she was sweet and kind and Clark knew once she got older she would be a knockout. That didn’t mean he was interested in a romantic relationship. 

Besides, he’d only known Lois two days. It was hardly long enough to even declare themselves friends, let alone anything else. 

“No, it’s not like that. It’s just … well, I guess we have something in common.”

He explained about her feelings of not wanting to be treated like she was fragile. The farmer nodded.

“That certainly sounds logical, son. It’s good that you’re there for her.”

Clark nodded in reply. “Yeah. Uh, I should go do my chores.”

He went in to dinner an hour or so later. Martha asked him about his day and he once again explained about Lois. He told his guardians what had happened when he’d walked Lois home. 

“Hm, that does seem a little odd,” Martha said. “Lex can be a little arrogant, but that’s more to do with Lionel. And she is a little young for him. She’s only fifteen.”

“You know what I think it might be?” Jonathan suggested. “Remember that deal Lionel was talking about a couple of years ago?”

Martha frowned. “What deal?”

“Something to do with the military? What if Lex realised who she was and thought she might have a few contacts she could put him in touch with?”

“Hmm, that certainly makes sense. He’s been trying to get out from under Lionel’s thumb for a while.”

Clark listened as they discussed the issue. He barely remembered the deal they’d mentioned, but he had heard rumours that Lex had been trying to make a few of his own deals. If he was working on any kind of project involving the military, then Lois might be able to provide him with an opening. 

It was exactly the sort of manipulative tactic that his father had been against, according to Oliver. Robert Queen had been the kind of businessman who preferred all his dealings to be above-board and completely ethical. He had refused to play mind games. 

Clark still wondered what had happened when his parents had disappeared. Had it had something to do with a business rival? The last he’d heard, their plane had gone down in the Pacific, while they’d been flying to South Korea for some deal his father had been involved in. Had their plane been sabotaged?

As much as he wanted to find out, he had no idea how to go about it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois talks to Chloe

Her first week at school had turned out to be mostly good, considering. She’d expected to be teased or for some of the other students to gossip about her, especially because of her cousin, but Lois had been surprised at how most of them just left her to it. 

She wondered if Clark had had something to do with that. For a guy who was supposed to be considered a ‘loser’, it appeared that many of those at Smallville High preferred to steer clear of the tall brunet. Anyone seen with him was apparently also considered off-limits.

The next week was a different story. 

Chloe had written a scathing editorial about the football jocks’ cheating, which had not made her popular with the athletes. The rest of the school - those who often found themselves below the grade curve due to such blatant favouritism, seemed to be on the side of the school paper. 

Of course, that didn’t stop the article from stirring up trouble. Principal Kwan had been attacked. Somehow a fire had started in his car. The fire department had concluded it was an electrical fault but Chloe didn’t think so. It looked even more suspicious after her cousin was almost killed in a fire that started in the Torch office. 

Thankfully, Clark had managed to sort that out, but a third incident involving Coach Walt hadn’t turned out so well. The man was dead and the football players decided Chloe’s article was somehow to blame, and the rest of the gang was guilty by association. It was as if each member of the Losers Club had bullseyes on their backs. The jocks stepped up their harassment. Clark had done his best to run interference but it had little effect. 

They had all gone to the Beanery after school on Friday to recover from the week from hell. Chloe had her head down on the table while Abby was doing her best to cheer her up.

Clark came back from getting their coffees. As Lois watched, a group of guys tried to trip him up but the tall farmboy was too quick for them, dodging their efforts. She frowned. For someone who had confessed he had two left feet, he seemed to have amazing reflexes. 

He put two cups down on the table. “Your hazelnut latte, madame,” he said. “Non-fat, double-shot, just the way you like it.”

Chloe lifted her head wearily and tried for a smile. “You are a lifesaver, Queen.”

He shrugged. “One green tea for you,” he continued, handing Abby her drink before smiling at Lois. “I’ll be right back with your coffee.”

“Thank you,” she said, smiling at him. As he turned away, she couldn’t help but notice the way her cousin’s expression changed. One minute she was smiling, the next she looked almost annoyed. 

Lois decided to talk to her about it when they got home but as soon as they walked in the door her uncle told them he had ordered pizza. 

“I’ll be out tonight, girls,” he said. “Will you two be all right on your own?”

“We’ll be fine, Dad. We’ll just watch movies or something.”

Lois smiled at her uncle as she helped herself to a slice of pizza. “Doing anything special?” she asked.

“No,” he replied. “Just poker with some of the guys from work.”

Chloe looked like she was going to say something cutting, but Lois nudged her to be quiet. Uncle Gabe left the house shortly after and they sprawled on the floor to eat the greasy treat and watch movies.

Lois decided since they were alone it was a good time to bring up the subject of Clark. 

“So, Chlo, what was with the look today?”

“What look?” her cousin asked. 

“This afternoon. When Clark went to get the rest of the coffees.”

“I didn’t have a look.”

“Yes you did.”

“No, I didn’t.” The blonde was clearly trying to deny it but Lois caught a flash of a guilty look from her.

“Does it bother you? I mean, don’t think I haven’t noticed the way you look at him. Not that Smallville’s stupid or anything, but he hasn’t noticed a thing. Just in case you were worried about that.”

“I’m not worried,” Chloe replied with a shrug. “Who said I was worried?”

She got up and walked out. Lois frowned, wondering what that was all about. 

“Chloe!”

“I’m just getting a drink!” her cousin shouted back. “You want a soda?”

“Yeah.”

The other girl came back in with a couple of cans of Coke. She handed one over.

“All right,” she said. “If you must know, yeah, it does bother me a little. You and Clark, I mean.”

“What exactly is it that bothers you?”

“He didn’t offer to bring me food.” For a moment, Lois had forgotten about Clark bringing extra for his lunch. She figured he would do it for anyone if they asked but so far, Chloe and Abby had seemed resigned to buying food from the cafeteria. 

“Did you even ask him?” Lois pointed out.

“Well … no.”

“What else?”

“It’s just … you two seem to have some sort of secret communication, that I’m not a part of.”

She understood now. Chloe was feeling left out, thinking that Lois was usurping her best friend. Chloe had had a whole year with the tall farmboy and probably felt she was being replaced. Not only that, she thought the confidences Lois had shared with Clark meant there was something more than a burgeoning friendship.

It wasn’t that Lois hadn’t thought about guys that way. What her cousin probably didn’t understand was that she wasn’t ready to date anyone. She was still trying to come to terms with the direction her life had taken and there was no way she was going to jump into any relationship other than friendship. 

“Did you even stop to think about why that is?” she asked.

Chloe studied her for a long moment. “No. Not … not really.”

“Clark’s the only one who doesn’t act like I’m gonna fall apart at any second. He doesn’t treat me like I’m made of glass.”

Her cousin frowned. “Is that what I’ve been doing?” she asked.

“Well, yeah,” Lois told her gently. “I know you didn’t mean to, but it was kind of wearing me down. Clark’s the only one who really gets what I’m going through.”

Chloe bit her lip, clearly trying to see it from Lois’ point of view. “I never thought of it that way. You’re right. I mean, he lost his parents, and his brother. God, I’m such an idiot. I’m sorry, cuz,” she said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “I guess I have been a bit of a pain in the ass.”

“No, you haven’t. Just … quit with the asking if I’m okay every so often. If I’m not okay, I’ll tell you.”

“Will you? Because I heard you the other night. Crying.”

Lois sighed. She had been dreaming about her parents and woken up crying. She’d tried to muffle it with her pillow but Chloe’s room was right next door and the walls were kind of thin. 

“I just had a dream about Mom and Dad. It was just hard, that’s all.”

Chloe nodded. “You know, I don’t know if I believe in heaven or anything, but I bet they’re together.”

“Yeah, I think so too. My dad never really got over losing Mom.”

“It was kind of hard for my dad too, when my mom walked out. At least, that’s what he told me happened.” She explained she didn’t really remember what had happened. All she knew was that her mother had left when she was eight. “I’ve sort of been looking for her, putting feelers out, but I haven’t found anything.”

Lois bit her lip. She wondered if her cousin really should be opening up that particular can of worms. There had to have been a reason her mother had chosen to leave and not contact the family again. Maybe Chloe’s father knew where she was but was trying to protect his daughter. She wasn’t sure Chloe’s mission to find her mother was such a good idea; she might not like what she found. 

“I didn’t want to go to Dad’s funeral,” she confessed. “I hate funerals.”

She knew part of it was because of her mother’s funeral. She’d cried until she couldn’t cry anymore and her father had just stood there stoically. He’d buried friends and fellow soldiers, but burying her mother had been the hardest.

“Everybody hates funerals,” Chloe said.

“Yeah, that’s what my dad used to say. Sometimes … I …” Her voice began breaking. Talking about it was difficult. It felt like only days had passed since she’d lost her father and she still expected to see him walking in the door. “Sometimes I hear him saying ‘buck up soldier. Don’t let anyone see you being weak’.”

Chloe hugged her. “Lo, it’s not weakness to say you miss your dad. You might have had your problems, but I know he loved you.”

“I miss him, Chlo.”

Her cousin nodded. They sat in silence for a few minutes until Lois no longer felt like crying. Chloe lifted up a couple of movies and waved them with a cheesy grin. 

“So, what movie do you want to watch next?” Chloe asked. “Keanu, or Keanu?”

Lois laughed. When her cousin was ten, she had admitted to having a huge crush on the actor Keanu Reeves. 

Glad they’d managed to clear the air a little, she settled down as Chloe put in one of the movies. 

They met up with Pete and Abby at the Beanery early the next afternoon. Lois hadn’t had a lot to do with Pete, since he had been busy practicing with the football team. She did remember he had had a bit of a quarrel with Chloe over the cheating article. In the argument, she’d also told him what the football players had done to Clark.

To his credit, the teen refused to take sides over the issue. He had not been happy that Chloe had almost been hurt once more. Lois had the impression that Pete’s feelings went deeper than friendship, but her cousin only had eyes for Clark. 

Lois didn’t know what she was going to do about that. Clark had quietly confessed to her in one of their talks that he was steering well clear of the subject of dating. He had too much going on in his personal life to even consider asking a girl out. 

Clark came in just as they’d been served their drinks. He stopped by one of the armchairs where a dark-haired girl had been reading. She said something to him and he replied. Lois couldn’t hear what they were saying but it looked to be a fairly friendly conversation.

“Oh no, here comes trouble.”

While Clark had been talking to the girl, a blond guy in a letterman’s jacket came up behind him and shoved him. Clark turned around, frowning at the jock. 

“Who’s that?” Lois asked.

She had met a few of the students but couldn’t remember if she’d actually met the guy.

“That’s Whitney. Remember?” Her cousin frowned at her.

She shook her head. Chloe sighed.

“He’s Lana Lang’s boyfriend.”

“And Lana is …”

“The girl Clark was just talking to. Geez, keep up, cuz.”

“Well, gee, sorry. Since Lana’s a freshman and I’m a sophomore, I don’t have a lot to do with her.”

“I told you about her. She’s the girl whose parents were killed in the meteor shower.”

Oh, right, Lois thought. She had forgotten about that. She glanced uneasily at her cousin as Whitney began pushing Clark around. The blond shoved him so hard Clark fell back into one of the servers, which caused her to drop the tray she’d been carrying.

The manager hurried over. “All right, that does it. I’ve warned you boys before about fighting in here. Both of you. Out!”

Lois and Chloe hurried over. “It wasn’t Clark’s fault,” Chloe told the manager.

“I don’t care whose fault it was. I’m sick of you kids and your nonsense.” She glared at Clark and Whitney. “You heard what I said. Out! The same goes for the rest of you,” she added.

“Wait a second. That’s not fair!” Lois returned. “Clark didn’t do anything!” She turned to look at Lana who had just stayed in her chair. The girl looked up at her, her almond-shaped eyes wide. “It’s your boyfriend who started it,” she told her. “Why didn’t you stop him?”

Lana just looked worried and refused to say a word. Lois snorted in disgust. 

Clark had just huffed in defeat and walked out. The gang followed him in time to see Whitney trying to start another fight. 

“Hey jerk, you wanna act like a Neanderthal …”

Whitney ignored her and resumed trying to shove Clark. “I told you to stay away from my girl! You’re delusional if you think she could ever be interested in someone like you!”

“Lana was just asking me a question about the maths homework,” Clark replied. “If you don’t believe me, why don’t you go ask her? And anyway, I’m not interested in her and I never will be!”

Whitney snorted in disbelief. “You’re a liar, Queen. You fucking loser! You walk around this town like you think you’re better than anyone else. Like you think everyone should feel sorry for the little orphan boy. I bet your brother isn’t missing at all. I bet he just ran away so he wouldn’t have to look at your ugly face!”

Lois saw Clark’s face and knew he was one step away from losing it completely. She looked at Chloe and together they got in-between the two boys before things could get any worse. Pete and Abby looked on helplessly. 

“You think you’re so clever, don’t you, Fordman?” Chloe said. “If anyone walks around this town like they own the place, it’s you.”

“You’re an asshole, Whitney!” Lois told him. “At least Clark doesn’t have to resort to childish bullying tactics!”

The tow-headed boy lashed out but before his fist could connect with her face, she saw that Clark had blocked the blow, grabbing the boy’s fist with his hand. Lois could swear she heard a sharp crack. 

“You’ve got some real anger problems, Fordman!” he said. “Now get the fuck out of here before I do something I’m gonna regret.”

Whitney pulled away, his other hand cradling his fist. He turned and began walking away, stopping only to hoick and spit on the ground, his expression full of disdain.

Chloe was staring at Clark. “Wow! I’ve never heard you say that before!” she said. 

He shrugged, looking a little embarrassed. “He had it coming.”

Lois grinned and punched his shoulder. He shot her a look. 

“What was that for?” he asked.

“You’re full of surprises, Smallville!”

He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Smallville?”

“Yeah. It kind of fits, don’t you think?”

He chuckled. “Whatever works for you, Lane.”

They began walking along the street, talking about where they were going to hang out for the rest of the day. Lois heard the sound of a sportscar engine and a Porsche pulled up alongside them.

Not this again, she thought, as she recognised Lex Luthor. He leaned out of the window.

“Clark!”

The teen turned and looked at the bald man.

“Lex?”

“I was just over talking to the Kents,” Lex replied. “They need you at the farm.”

Clark frowned. “What for?” he asked.

“They got a call. Your brother’s been found.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, Whitney's being a bit of a douche, but that's going to change shortly.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark's reeling from the news

Clark stared at Lex in disbelief, wondering if what the bald man had just told him was a hoax. It couldn’t be true, he thought. Could it?

“Are you … are you sure?” he asked tentatively.

“I was there when they got the call, Clark. They seemed fairly sure.”

Chloe looked at him, her expression full of excitement. She was clearly already thinking of the story possibilities. Lois, on the other hand, was unreadable.

“You should go,” she said quietly. 

She didn’t have to say it. He already knew what she was thinking. If there was ever a chance of seeing her parents again, she would jump at it. 

Abby and Pete also told him to go. He hesitated. He was normally allowed to drive the farm truck into town. Being a farm kid, driver licensing was different for him. However, today he’d decided to just run. 

Lex looked at him. “Jonathan said he’d dropped you off at the library a couple hours ago. Get in. I’ll drive you back to the farm.”

“Uh, yeah, thanks Lex.” He glanced at his friends but they waved him away. Lois shot him a look that was half hopeful, although she seemed to be trying to contain her emotions. 

He sat beside Lex in the car, staring out the window. The other man drove reasonably fast. 

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”

“About what?”

“About your plans for the future. I guess it’s all moot if Oliver’s alive.”

“We don’t know that for sure,” Clark said quietly. “Anyway, I have just as much say in the company as he does. That’s what this is about, isn’t it?”

“Honestly? Yes. I was hoping to convince you to invest in a couple of business deals I’m researching. Nothing’s confirmed yet.”

“Do these have something to do with the military?” Clark asked, remembering the conversation he’d had with Martha and Jonathan over a week ago.

“The military?” Lex frowned at him. “What makes you think that?”

“Well, you came on kind of strong with Lois. We thought you were only talking to her because of her dad’s connections.” Lex was silent for a moment but Clark noticed his gloved hands tightened a little on the steering wheel. 

“I’ll admit I did think about that, but she’s a very attractive girl. Is it beyond the realm of possibility that I might be interested in her for herself?”

“She’s fifteen. Last time I checked you’re six years older than her.”

“It’s not illegal to be friends with a fifteen-year-old, Clark.”

“No, but that’s not how she read the situation.”

“I’ll apologise for upsetting her, if that’s what you think I did, Clark.”

“It’s not what I think that matters. It’s what Lois thinks. And you did upset her, Lex.”

The bald man nodded. “Then I’ll apologise to her.”

His tyres skidded on gravel as he turned sharply into the driveway. 

“You don’t need to go so fast,” Clark cautioned. 

“What’s the point of being rich if you’re just going to live life in the slow lane?” the man returned. The pointed barb hit home. 

“You saying I should be taking a leaf out of your book? No thanks. I’ll stick to the bus.”

“Your loss.” The car came to a shuddering halt. Jonathan came out of the house, frowning at Lex. They got out of the car. 

“You think you left any rubber on those tyres, son?” the blond farmer asked Lex, who shrugged.

Clark knew Lex was in for a lecture as Jonathan looked at him and nodded toward the house. 

“Go on in, Clark.” He put an arm around Lex’s shoulders. “Let’s have a little talk. Man-to-man.”

“Uh oh,” Clark said, earning him a sharp look from his guardian and a withering look from the twenty-one-year-old. He went into the house.

Martha was on the phone.

“All right. The flight is at ten tonight. It’s the earliest we could get.” She looked up at his step and nodded before turning back to the phone. “Yes, I understand. Just tell him we’ll get there as soon as we can.”

She hung up the phone and turned to him, making him sit down at the table. She gave him a glass of milk. 

“Is it true?” he asked.

“Yes, sweetheart. It’s true.”

“Where is he? Where’s he been all this time? Is he okay?”

“One question at a time, sweetheart. Oliver is in a hospital in the Philippines. As for where he’s been all this time, I’m not completely sure.”

“In a hospital? Is he sick?”

“From what the doctors can determine it’s some kind of malaria-type virus. All I know is he collapsed shortly after they arrived in the Philippines.”

“But … what’s he doing there? Why isn’t he here?” And who was ‘they’? 

“I don’t know, Clark. I’m sorry. Now, Earl is going to oversee the farm for a few days and we need you to take care of things here at the house.”

He stared at her. He’d hoped he’d be able to go and help bring Oliver home, but it looked like that wasn’t going to happen.

“I want to go with you,” he said. 

“I know, and I’m sorry, but you can’t. We couldn’t get you an emergency passport and your principal refused to even let you have one or two days off school. He said you have a history test coming up which is a third of your grade.”

“But … that’s not fair! Ollie’s my brother!”

Martha stood beside him. “I know, honey. We tried to arrange it, but we just couldn’t. I’m sorry.”

Jonathan came back in, followed by Lex. 

“Martha, where’s that order of produce for Lex?”

“It’s out back, honey. I’ll get it.” She turned and went out. Jonathan went to the counter. 

“How about some coffee, Lex?” he said. “Martha ordered this new coffee maker. Swear the damn thing looks like it could fly to the moon or something, but it makes some fine coffee.”

Lex grinned. “Sure.” He turned to look at Clark and raised an eyebrow at the glass of milk. Clark stared back at him defensively. So he was drinking milk. He was fourteen for crying-out-loud!

There was a series of noises coming from the coffee machine as Jonathan worked. He let out a curse a couple of times, causing Lex to duck his head to hide a smirk. The noises stopped and he looked up again.

“Oh, I forgot. There’s a charity gala at the Metropolis Museum in January. You might want to put that in your calendar.” The bald man rolled his eyes. “It’s in the Luthor wing.”

Lex had always viewed his father’s over-indulgences with a dose of cynicism. He often said it was pretentious and rather pointless. It was well-known that Lionel Luthor was not liked among the rest of Metropolis society. 

“I think the less said about that, the better,” Jonathan replied, handing Lex a cup of coffee. “Try that.”

Lex sipped it. “You’re right. That is great coffee.”

Martha returned from outside. “Lex, I left the crate by your car. Is there anything else you need, honey?”

“No. I’m fine. How long do you think you’ll be gone?”

Martha shook her head, her red hair brushing her shoulders. 

“We’re not sure. It depends on how bad Oliver is, I guess.”

“We hope we can get him home within a couple of days, even if we have to get him transferred to Metropolis General.”

“I can keep an eye on things here,” Lex offered.

“I don’t need a babysitter,” Clark interjected crossly. “I’m fourteen, not four.”

Jonathan grinned at him. “Just don’t go having any wild parties while we’re away,” he said. He turned to Lex. “That goes double for you, son. We wouldn’t want you to be a bad influence on Clark.”

“Me?” Lex tried to look innocent. “Perish the thought.”

The blond man laughed. “Yeah, don’t think we don’t know about all those parties while you were at Met U, young man.”

Lex looked crestfallen. “My reputation precedes me. I’m doomed.” He laughed to show he meant no offence. 

Jonathan wrapped an arm around the slighter man’s shoulders and gave him a gentle squeeze. “Like I said out by the car. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.”

Clark wondered why the couple chose to be so nice to Lex when there were times when he wasn’t sure he could trust the man. He didn’t know if Lex knew anything about the ‘society’ Lionel had been involved in with Virgil Swann and his father.   
He hadn’t contacted the billionaire philanthropist, unsure if he wanted to hear the whole story. His guardians hadn’t pushed him into doing so either.

After Lex had left, he asked them about their approach with the bald man.

“Sometimes it’s better to take the high road,” Jonathan told him. “If we treat Lex with civility, we may be able to at least provide a little guidance for him and perhaps prevent him from getting too curious about you. Or why your parents chose for you to raised by us.”

Martha nodded. “Robert told me he was worried about the way Lionel was treating Lex. The man strikes me as rather cold and overbearing. Lex may be learning some harsh lessons from his father.”

Clark realised that in being so friendly with the younger man, they were trying to counter Lionel’s treatment of his son. Of course, the purpose was twofold. If Lex was able to trust them, he might eventually inform them if Lionel was doing something underhanded which would impact Clark’s welfare.

“Now, Clark, are you sure you’re going to be okay on your own?” Martha asked. “There are a few casseroles in the freezer you could heat up.”

“I’ll just order pizza,” he said.

“No, you won’t,” she admonished. She turned to Jonathan. “Maybe I should just …”

“Sweetheart, he’ll be fine. Won’t you Clark?” Clark nodded and smiled. Jonathan took his wife’s hand. “We need to go pack if we’re going to get to Metropolis in time for check-in.”

“Right.” 

The couple went upstairs, leaving Clark on his own. He finished his drink and rinsed out the glass, staring out through the windows at the back fields. He hoped Oliver was okay. Part of him was excited about his brother coming home but another part was a little nervous. Where had Oliver been for three years? What had he been doing? Had he just run away or had something more sinister happened? Would he have changed from his experience? Would they still be brothers or would his brother now be a total stranger to him?


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver is in a hospital.

Oliver shifted in the bed. He felt like the time he’d had the flu, his whole body aching all over. No matter what he tried, he just couldn’t get comfortable. 

When he was five, he’d had his tonsils taken out. Even then, he could remember, the hospital bed had not been the most comfortable. Despite him being in one of the best hospitals in the entire state. The bed he was currently in was just as bad. 

What was worse was the moments when he’d break out into a sweat, pushing the blankets off, only to be shivering a minute later. The sheets didn’t help. The cotton was coarse and felt like sandpaper against his skin.

Obviously a hospital in an island nation like the Philippines wasn’t going to have access to the same kind of healthcare they had in the U.S. Not that that was anything to write home about. Still, he had to be grateful. Three years stuck on an island, bitten by mosquitoes until his skin was covered in welts, skin that was already raw and blistered from constant exposure to a hot sun. There were definitely worse things. 

He rolled onto his side, but even that didn’t help. Filipinos were apparently much shorter than him and the bed had not been designed for someone who was six foot three, he decided. He rolled over again and sat on the edge of the bed, his hand on the nightstand to support himself as he slowly got to his feet. 

Not slow enough, he thought as the room swam before him. Oliver had been drunk a few times and this felt exactly like one of those times. Bad idea, he thought. Very bad idea. The vertigo, if that was what it was, made him feel dizzy. Like the time a kid he knew had challenged him to spin in a circle, faster and faster until they both fell. Of course, then the kid had begun breathing really heavily and his father had yelled at him for his stupidity. 

“Whoa, what are you doing?”

He looked up, squinting at the woman in front of him. She had a hand on his shoulder, barely keeping him from pitching face first onto the hard wooden floor. She was shorter than him by about half a head, but at that moment, far stronger. 

He searched for an answer but nothing came to mind.

“Never mind,” she said. “Let’s get you back on the bed.”

He felt himself lowered back on the bed, the woman’s touch gentle as she helped him get more comfortable. She began wiping his face with a damp rag.

“You’d make a good nurse,” he said. “You know what they say about nurse-patient relationships.”

“Now I know you’re delirious,” she said. 

He blinked at her, his vision still blurry. She leaned over and picked up something from the nightstand, then held a glass in front of him. 

“You need to drink more fluids,” she told him. “You’re dehydrated.”

He obeyed, letting her hold the glass so he could sip using the straw. 

“Your parents should be landing in about half an hour,” she said casually.

He frowned. His parents? But his parents were dead. He should know, since he’d found their bodies, or what was left of them on the … on the … he couldn’t remember. 

“It’s the fever. He’s been in and out for days.”

He blinked and tried to sit up, hearing the rumble of a man’s voice in reply to the woman. They were distant, as if they were across the room. Hadn’t she just been at his side?

“Sweetheart?”

“Mom?” he said weakly.

“No, baby, it’s Martha. Tess called us when you were admitted.”

“Admitted where?”

“You’re in a hospital in Manila, son.” 

Oliver frowned and stared at the blond man, trying to think of his name. 

“It’s Jonathan. Do you remember what happened?”

He shook his head. The last thing he remembered was boarding the yacht, the Queen’s Gambit, partying with his friends before deciding to take the yacht on a cruise, thinking he could handle it by himself. How had he gotten from Metropolis to the Philippines?

The voices faded. He dreamed of being washed ashore on a small island, his yacht having been taken over by pirates. At least he assumed that’s what they were. They’d beaten him before leaving him for dead. He’d managed to stay conscious long enough to drag himself overboard just as the yacht exploded, debris falling all around him. 

The cold water of the Pacific and the fear of the possibility of sharks in the murky depths kept him from going under. He’d hung onto a broken board, using it to keep him afloat. He’d drifted for a day and a half before the tide had washed him ashore.

Hunger had aroused him from sleep and he’d gone in search of food. His efforts to catch a wild boar had gone in vain. Unable to stomach the thought of eating one of the many grubs, he managed to fashion a bow and arrow, his belly aching with hunger. It took him a few tries but he was able to catch a wild animal and cook it. 

When he was fourteen and his little brother had been almost eight, Jonathan had taken them camping. The farmer had taught them not only how to catch fish, but to clean it, then cook it. Oliver called on those skills to hunt for game. 

He held little hope of being rescued as the days passed and spent the time honing the archery skills his father had taught him. 

He’d been on the island probably a week when he heard voices. Wondering if he was about to be rescued, he followed the sound, only to discover there was a primitive tribe living on the island. They jabbered at him in their own language. With much difficulty, he did his best to communicate using a rudimentary sign language. 

During the weeks that followed, he began exploring the island. One day, while walking the south end of the island, he spotted debris from either a shipwreck or a downed plane. As he neared the site, he saw something which made him recoil in horror. It was a piece of fabric with a name on it. Queen Industries. 

He explored further and found two bodies. They were mostly skeletons, covered in rags, but he saw enough to conclude they were the bodies of Robert and Laura Queen. Oliver fell to his knees, sobbing for what might have been. 

He buried them in a shallow grave. 

He had no idea how much time had passed when he returned to his shelter after a successful hunt to hear voices speaking English. He ducked down into the bushes, watching through the foliage as a redheaded woman was threatened by a dark-skinned man. 

Oliver soon realised the man and his companions were drug smugglers and the woman was their hostage. A body of another girl lay near the shelter. The smugglers had obviously killed her as a lesson to the woman. 

Thinking quickly, he gathered his weapon and ran to another part of the island where he could look down on the shelter. The men, having obviously realised someone had been living there, were waiting for him to return. Oliver came up with a plan, waiting and watching for his chance. 

The dark-skinned man, clearly the leader of the trio, sent one of his men off with a rifle. He picked up his own rifle and began walking off in the opposite direction. Oliver moved swiftly, firing off an arrow to hit the one remaining man left guarding the woman. The arrow didn’t pierce anything vital, but was enough to knock the man down. 

The redhead, startled, stared at him as he ran toward her. 

“Who are you?” she said.

“Oliver. Come on.”

“I can’t just …”

“They’ll kill you if you stay.”

Knowing he would never get another chance to get off the island, he found the smugglers’ boat. Together he and Tess – she had told him her name as they were running for the shore – stranded the two smugglers.

Tess had convinced him to alert the authorities of the drug smuggling. Knowing little about navigation, he left it to her to find a location where they could get help. 

“That was when I got sick,” he said.

Martha was sitting on a chair beside his bed, where she’d been off and on for the two days since they’d arrived. She looked at Tess.

“Well, thank goodness you knew what to do,” she said. 

The young redhead nodded. Oliver didn’t know how old she was but guessed she was about a year or two younger than him. 

Oliver’s fever had finally broken around midnight the night before and he was feeling better than he had in a long while. The doctors had told him that it sometimes happened that a patient could contract malaria and appear to recover, only to relapse. They surmised that was what had happened to him. 

His chest still bore scars from injuries he’d suffered while on the island. Without proper medical attention, the wounds had not healed well, leaving him with ragged scars. He didn’t really care, preferring to see them as a mark of his survival.

His blond hair was down past his shoulders. His jaw was covered by a long beard which he couldn’t wait to shave off. When he could get out of the hospital, the first thing he was going to ask for was a pair of scissors and a razor.

Jonathan came in. “I’ve just been talking to the doctor,” he said. “If you continue to improve over the next twenty-four hours, he thinks we’ll be able to take you home.”

Home, Oliver thought. Maybe Smallville wasn’t Star City, but at least he had people who loved him. And his little brother. God, what he must have gone through, not knowing what had happened. 

“Clark,” he said.

Martha nodded. “He took it hard when you disappeared. He’ll be so happy to know you’re going to be okay.”

Oliver nodded and bit his lip. “I … Before I left, I … said some things.”

Martha cupped his cheek. “We know you didn’t mean it, sweetheart.”

There had been plenty of times on the island where he’d thought about his parents and what they would have said about his attitude. His mother wouldn’t have asked Martha and Jonathan to be his guardians without a good reason. While it had been mostly about protecting his little brother, he knew she wanted him to have a loving and stable home. 

He’d been such a spoiled brat. He’d often refused to do chores and acted like everything that was asked of him was a burden. Compared to everything he’d gone through the past three years, there was nothing they’d asked of him that deserved his attitude.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m so sorry for everything I did. I acted like a spoiled brat and I …”

His guardians wrapped their arms around him. Oliver had never been the type of guy to cry at the drop of a hat but he found himself sobbing in their embrace. 

Tess looked on, clearly worried, but relieved at the same time. 

A day later, Oliver sat with the girl, waiting for Martha to bring him some clothes. Not knowing what they would find once they got to the hospital, they hadn’t thought to pack anything for him. Not that his clothes would have fitted him now, he thought. He’d lost quite a bit of weight in three years. He’d always been athletic but now his body was lean and more muscular. 

“So I guess you’ll be going home,” she said. 

He looked at her. “You’re coming with us, though, right?”

She bit her lip. “I don’t know. I mean, they’re your family. I’d just be in the way.”

“You’re not in my way, Tess. If it hadn’t been for you, I might not have lived to tell the tale.”

She shook her head. “I don’t believe that. You’re a survivor, Ollie.”

“So are you,” he said.

Her blue eyes dimmed for a moment. He wondered what that was about. The few days they’d been on the boat together, she had never talked about her own past. All he knew about her was that she was a marine biologist who had been doing research when the drug smugglers had attacked the party and kidnapped her and her roommate. 

He didn’t have the opportunity to ask her about it. The Kents came in with the clothes.

“Here you go, honey,” Martha said, handing him a pair of jeans and a couple of shirts. “The hospital gave us the papers and we have your emergency passports and your travel papers.”

Oliver didn’t miss the passports, plural. Neither did Tess.

“You said passports?” she asked. “I …”

“Well, we couldn’t exactly leave you stranded here, now could we? Not after what you did for Ollie.”

Oliver smiled at her. He was planning on asking her out when he got back home. Of course, that all depended on whether she decided to stay or go back to work at the lab. 

It was another day and a half before they arrived back in Smallville. While they had been using the Queen Industries jet to fly between the States to the Philippines, it hadn’t been a direct flight. They’d had to fly to Topeka International Airport and there had been a delay through customs checks. 

Tess had opted to stay with them for a couple of days. Jonathan drove the four of them down from Metropolis. Oliver stared out the window as the car passed the sign letting them know they were in Smallville.

“Can we stop by the high school?” he asked.

Martha turned and frowned at him. “Why the high school, sweetie?”

“It’s Friday, right? Clark will be in class?”

“He’ll probably be at the Torch,” Jonathan told him, saying at that time of the day he had a study period where the students had to work on electives. “Can’t wait to see your little brother?”

“No sir.”

“Are you sure you’re up to it?” Martha asked, sounding a little worried. 

“I feel fine, Mom,” he said, not realising what he’d said. “I’m tired, but that’s just jet lag. I just … I really want to see Clark.”

He’d missed his brother. More than even his guardians. Sure, when he’d been younger the kid had been a pain in the ass, but it had been kind of nice as well, having someone who looked up to him. 

Jonathan elected to go with him, to reassure Martha that he wasn’t going to collapse in the middle of the hallway. The last time he’d been at the school, the newspaper office had been little bigger than a broom closet. Now, apparently due to a fire, it had been set up in a disused classroom. 

Other kids were hanging around in the corridor as he walked the familiar hallway. He paused now and again to gaze at photos or notices on the board, ignoring the stares from the kids. Most of them probably didn’t know who he was, and that was perfectly fine with him. He wasn’t here for them. 

A girl with short hair cut in a flippy sort of style was sitting at the computer when he knocked on the office door. Another girl with slightly darker blonde hair and glasses was stretched out on a couch on the far wall, reading from a book.

“You can leave it at the door,” the girl at the computer said, not looking up.

“Excuse me?”

“If you’re leaving a letter vilifying the editor …”

“Sorry, I’m looking for Clark.”

She lifted her head and stared, her eyes widening. “Oh! Oh my god! You’re …”

“Oliver?”

He turned. Clark was standing about twenty feet away, staring at him. He’d obviously gone to get something from the snack machine as a can and a couple of candy bars were now at his feet. 

Before Oliver could move, Clark ran toward him, flinging his arms around him. Jonathan stood back, chuckling at this enthusiastic reunion as Oliver staggered under his brother’s weight. The kid clearly had forgotten to hold back on his strength. 

The last time Oliver had seen his little brother, Clark had been at least a foot and a half shorter. Now they were almost the same height.

“Damn, kid. When did you get so tall?”

Clark spoke, but whatever he said was muffled against his brother’s shoulder. Other kids were staring at them. 

As much as Oliver had looked forward to this reunion, he was beginning to feel the effects of the jet lag. Jonathan must have noticed as he gently laid a hand on Clark’s shoulder.

“Might want to take it easy there, son. We only just got back and Oliver’s still recovering.”

“How about we take this inside?” Oliver suggested, guiding his brother into the Torch office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going mostly with SV canon, but I prefer to be more 'real' with Oliver's ordeal. I read somewhere that it is possible to relapse from malaria.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Losers Club has a surprising new ally.

Clark had been too busy to miss the Kents that week. He and the rest of the gang had had to investigate another meteor-infected person. Tina Greer had been born with soft-bone disease and at some point she was given treatment which involved meteor rock. None of them had known it but she had gained the ability to shapeshift. 

Envious of others, especially Lana Lang, who appeared to have the ‘perfect life’, Tina had decided to use Lex Luthor’s form to rob the Smallville Savings and Loan. Clark had been in town when the robbery had occurred and thanks to a new power, had figured out the Lex Luthor he was seeing wasn’t the real Lex.

Fortunately for the twenty-one-year-old, he’d been at a meeting, speaking in front of around two hundred witnesses. 

The Losers Club quickly figured out who was really responsible. Abby had acted as lookout, to warn Clark when Tina was getting close while he investigated her locker. Lois and Chloe had done some digging themselves and learned the antique shop Tina’s mother had owned had been in serious financial trouble. 

They quickly realised that Tina was obsessed with Lana and planned to take her place. Using Whitney’s form, she had lured the brunette to the cemetery and left her in a tomb to suffocate. Clark had gone after Tina and stopped her in time, saving Lana’s life in the process.

The biggest surprise had been Whitney. Clark had been coming out of English with Chloe and Abby when the blond jock intercepted him.

“What do you want?” Chloe said tersely.

“I just want to talk to Clark,” he said. 

Clark stared at him. For once the boy’s face didn’t have its customary sneer. He looked at the girls.

“I’ll meet you at the Torch,” he told them. Abby looked at him, obviously worried, but he shook his head. He waited until the girls had walked away before confronting the senior.

“What do you want, Whitney?”

“Look, I … I need to apologise for the other day. I acted like a jerk. Lana set me straight on a few things and told me if I didn’t apologise she was going to break up with me. The thing is, you saved her, when you didn’t have to, and I …” He heaved a sigh. “Anyway, I’m sorry for being such a jerk, and for you know, the scarecrow thing.”

Clark wanted to doubt the older boy’s sincerity, but he did seem genuinely remorseful. While the girls had been furious that Lana hadn’t lifted a finger to do anything to stop her boyfriend, Clark had wondered whether she had just been so shocked at his behaviour that she didn’t know what to do. The young brunette had obviously never witnessed Whitney’s bullying. 

He accepted the older boy’s apology and let him go. They would never be friends and he wasn’t going to hold his breath that the bullying would stop, but at least he’d got an apology.

He decided to detour to the vending machine to grab a couple of candy bars for the girls and a soda for himself. As he rounded the corner and headed down the corridor toward the Torch office, he spotted Jonathan. He stared. Standing in the doorway of the old classroom was his brother. 

Clark dropped what he was holding. “Oliver?”

He ran to his brother, flinging his arms around the blond. Oliver staggered back but kept his balance. 

“Damn kid! When did you get so tall?”

“Last summer,” he began to say but his words came out muffled. 

He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and Jonathan spoke. 

“Might want to take it easy there, son. We only just got back and Oliver’s still recovering.”

Clark looked at his brother. Oliver had dark circles under his eyes and was clearly not fully recovered from whatever had put him in the hospital. 

“How about we take this inside?” 

Clark nodded at his brother’s suggestion and let himself be guided into the Torch office. Chloe and Abby were staring at them. 

“Uh, this is Chloe and you remember Abby,” Clark said quietly. 

Chloe was the first to break the ice. “Hi. Chloe Sullivan,” she said, shaking Oliver’s hand. “I’m the editor of the Torch.”

“Right,” Oliver said. He turned to look at Clark, raising an eyebrow. 

“Mr Queen,” Abby said quietly. “Welcome home.”

“Thank you.” 

Clark smiled at his friend. Abby was shy and didn’t say much but when she did, it was often something very profound or what everyone else was thinking but didn’t have the courage to say. 

They had barely sat down when Whitney appeared in the doorway. Clark stared at him, puzzled. The blond jock had never been in the newspaper office before.

“Uh, I thought you should know. There’s a reporter sniffing around school. He …” Whitney stared. “Oh! Wow! No wonder. Hey, Oliver. Man, we didn’t know what happened to you.”

“Fordman,” Oliver said coolly. Clark didn’t know if his brother knew about Whitney’s bullying but his manner suggested they had never been exactly friendly. 

Clark saw his brother wipe a hand over his eyes and sway almost as if drunk. Jonathan noticed it as well.

“We should get you home so you can rest,” he said, helping Oliver get to his feet. 

Clark wanted to skip the rest of his classes and go with them. He looked at Chloe, who frowned. 

“You better get me an exclusive to your brother’s story, Queen,” she said. 

As much as he cared about his friend, he thought it was a bit presumptuous of her to demand an exclusive. Their lives had been a media circus before when Oliver hadn’t returned on the yacht. He had no desire for the same thing to happen all over again.  
He shot her a glare and shook his head. They would talk about this later. 

Jonathan led Oliver out. Clark followed them, wondering why Whitney was also following behind. No sooner had they stepped outside the building when they were intercepted by a balding man in a grey suit. He thrust a recorder in Oliver’s face.

“Roger Nixon, Metropolis Inquisitor.”

“Told you,” Whitney said quietly. “Hey, why don’t you back off and leave them alone?” he told the reporter. 

“What’s a reporter from the Inquisitor doing out here?” Clark asked.

Nixon scoffed but didn’t answer. “How about an interview, Mr Queen?”

“If you don’t mind,” Jonathan said, “Mr Queen has just come off a very long flight and he’s exhausted. As for your interview, Mr Nixon, your paper would be the last one we would grant an interview to.”

“You have to admit this is newsworthy, Mr Kent.”

Principal Kwan appeared. He still had bandages on his hands from the burns he’d received when his car had caught fire. 

“I’ve already warned you, Mr Nixon. You are trespassing. Now leave before I call the sheriff.”

“You can’t …”

“I can!” Kwan already had a cellphone in his hand and was dialling.

Whitney nudged Clark and nodded toward the reporter. Together they approached the man, standing over him in an effort to intimidate him. Nixon backed up and they stepped forward. The man sneered at them.

“You can try to intimidate me all you like, boys, but you can’t stop me.”

Martha approached, taking Oliver’s arm. “Come on, honey. Let’s get you home.” She guided him toward the car.

“If you don’t leave, Mr Nixon, I will be putting in a call to your editor,” Jonathan said, glaring at the shorter man. 

“Is that a threat?”

“Don’t even try it,” Whitney told him. “Get out of here!”

Clark watched as his brother got in the car. Jonathan got into the driver’s seat. He frowned at the young redhead sitting beside Oliver but figured he would soon find out what the story was. 

Nixon was forced to step back or be run over by the car as Jonathan reversed out of the park and drove off. He turned and sneered once more at Clark.

“You haven’t seen the last of me,” he said. 

Clark rolled his eyes, watching as the reporter walked away. 

“Asshole!” Whitney said. 

Clark looked at him. “Thanks for your help,” he said.

The jock shrugged. “No problem. See ya, Clark.” He started to walk away, then turned to look at him. “I’m happy for you. I mean, with your brother and everything.”

Sighing, Clark turned to go back into school, but Principal Kwan stopped him.

“I think it’s best if you go home. I doubt it will be long before the news media gets hold of this.” Clark nodded. “Do you need a ride?” the man asked.

“No. It’s cool. Thanks Mr Kwan.”

He went back to the Torch office. Chloe and Abby immediately began asking questions, but he shook his head, picking up his bag.

“Mr Kwan is sending me home for the rest of the day. That reporter might have already told someone else that Oliver’s back.”

“You’ll still give me first dibs though, right?” Chloe said.

He frowned at her. “Come on, Chloe! That’s not fair! For starters, he only just got home. Can’t you leave him alone for five minutes?”

“But …”

Abby touched her arm. “He’s right, Chloe. You practically ambushed him the moment he got here.”

“Well … you know a story like this will …”

Clark didn’t want to hear it. “Chloe, I get this is a big story for you, but back off, okay?”

He turned and walked out, bumping into Lois. “Hey,” he said. 

“Hey. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. I’ll let Chloe explain it. I gotta get home.”

He ran at half-speed, figuring the girl with Oliver would start asking too many questions if he showed up at the farmhouse before they even arrived. Even at that speed, it still took him only a minute or two. He hung back, waiting out of sight until he estimated enough time had passed so it could look like he’d been dropped off. 

Oliver was sitting on the couch next to the redhead, drinking Martha’s homemade lemonade when he entered the house. 

Jonathan frowned at him. “Clark?”

“Principal Kwan suggested I leave school early,” he said. “I guess he was worried about the media surrounding the school.”

Oliver sighed. “Sorry, I wanted to stop by the school. That was a dumb idea.”

“No, it wasn’t, sweetie,” Martha said, coming into the room with a cup of coffee for herself and Jonathan. “You wanted to see your brother.”

The girl nudged Oliver and he looked at her. “Oh,” he said. “Um, Tess Mercer, this is my little brother. Clark, this is Tess.”

“Hello,” Clark said, feeling more than a little awkward. He wanted to be excited that his brother had returned, but everything felt so strained, he didn’t really know what to say. “So, what happened?”

“Son, Oliver’s very tired so I think it can wait.”

“I promise, Clark. I will tell you everything once I’ve had a chance to settle in some.”

Clark nodded. He didn’t want to pester his brother. It was not that they’d had a bad relationship before Oliver had disappeared, but it hadn’t been ideal either. They had three years of catching up to do. It was nothing that couldn’t wait a few hours. 

The strain and awkwardness continued through dinner. It should have been a happy occasion, but everyone appeared too tired to make even casual conversation. Clark fidgeted the whole time, nervous energy causing him to shift in his chair. 

Martha had called the local restaurant and had food delivered, a sure sign she too was exhausted. The older woman was adamant there should always be wholesome, good food on the table, so ordering takeout was a rare occurrence. 

Oliver could barely hold his fork, his own exhaustion clear in the trembling of his hands. He was pale and wan.

“Are you all right, sweetie?” Martha asked.

“I’m just feeling really tired,” he said. “I’m fine, Mom. I probably just need a good night’s sleep.”

‘Mom’? Since when did he call Martha ‘Mom’? Clark thought. He’d never done that before. 

His brother had definitely changed. The question was, just how much had he changed?

Clark put down his fork and pushed his plate away. 

“I’m done,” he said. “I’m gonna go out and do some homework.”

He left the house and went out to the barn, wondering why not even Jonathan had said anything about the abrupt way he’d left the table. Or the fact that he didn’t even bother to clear the dishes, since that was usually his job after dinner. 

He did his evening chores at normal human speed, occasionally looking over toward the house. The lights went on upstairs not long after he’d left but the porch light was left on. It wasn’t even seven o’clock, he saw from the clock on the desk. 

Not wanting to disturb anyone in the house, he stayed up in the loft, reading until midnight, before deciding to sleep on the couch with just a rug for cover.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois sympathises with Clark

Lois watched Clark working as he cleaned out the stalls. She might not have known him for very long but she could tell when he was brooding. He had a distant look on his face, as if he was thinking about something yet doing his work almost automatically. 

She wondered why he was working when he could be spending time with his brother. Unless the reunion hadn’t gone as he’d hoped. 

She hadn’t known the Kents were back until she’d stepped into the Torch office just as Clark was leaving the day before. She’d looked at her cousin.

“What was that all about?” she asked.

“There was a reporter here,” Abby answered instead of Chloe. “Well, that’s what Whitney told us.”

“Wait. Jock Boy came to warn you about a reporter?” she asked. “What’s up with him?”

The girls shrugged. Chloe was sitting at her computer looking a little miffed. 

“Oliver was here,” she said. 

Lois stared at her cousin. “Here? As in here at the school? Physically here?”

“No, Lois. He astral-projected!” Lois rolled her eyes. 

“I meant …” 

“I know what you meant!” Chloe snapped. Abby shot her a look. Lois looked at the other girl, raising an eyebrow.

“What’s that all about?”

“Clark sort of told her off because she wanted him to give her the exclusive on his brother.”

Lois bit her lip. On the one hand, it was a pretty big story, but on the other, she could understand Clark being upset about Chloe wanting an interview. As much as she loved her cousin, the blonde could be single-minded to the point of being obsessive when it came to her journalism career. Getting an exclusive interview with the prodigal brother, so-to-speak, would be a career-changer, but her cousin had to realise that this wasn’t just about some stranger. This was her best friend’s brother. 

“Chlo, I get it,” she said gently, “but maybe you need to put yourself in Clark’s shoes. He lost almost everything. To have his brother back from the dead would be tough enough to deal with. Demanding an interview on top of that …”

Her cousin adopted a guilty look. “I know,” she said, sighing. “Clark accuses me sometimes of forgetting everything else in my relentless pursuit of the story, and he’s right. It’s not that I’m unfeeling, or that I don’t know what he’s gone through, I just …”

“You just can’t help but think what a story like this will do for your prospective career.” Lois put an arm around Chloe, squeezing a little. “Maybe you just need to give him a little time to adjust.”

“You’re right, you’re right, I know you’re right.” She grinned. 

Lois laughed at her. They’d decided to watch a romantic comedy the other night, after they’d got bored of Keanu. Not that she really liked rom-coms that much, but her mother had loved it. 

After school was over, she managed to talk her cousin down from going to visit the Kents, saying they were probably jet-lagged and wouldn’t be up to visitors. Uncle Gabe went out for his usual poker night, leaving them to watch movies. 

Chloe was quiet for most of the night, although it was obvious her mind was not on the movies. 

“Do you think I’m, you know …”

“Sorry, Chlo. I don’t speak psychic.” Or telepathic, she thought. Whichever. 

“Well, I mean, I guess I didn’t think, you know, about how Clark was feeling.”

“Are you asking if he had a right to be upset with you?”

“Well, yeah, kind of.”

She looked at her cousin. “Chlo, I’m gonna tell you something that I haven’t really told anyone. After my dad’s accident, me and Lucy were in the hospital. He was just laying there in a coma and we were praying he’d wake up. Anyway, we’d been there just about round the clock. We were tired and afraid that if we left his side for one moment, he might wake up and find us not there.”

Deciding they both needed something to at least wake them up, Lois had left her sister to get coffees from the hospital café. As she’d headed down the corridor, she’d been ambushed by a man with a camera. He’d identified himself as a reporter from the local paper and asked her about the general’s condition. 

She had refused to comment and asked him to leave her alone. The man continued to pursue her as she walked quickly down the corridor, frantically looking for the MPs who were supposed to have been guarding the room. 

Luckily, they’d only been a few yards away and made the reporter leave. A few days later, the man had tried again, this time at her father’s funeral. Even Lucy had been outraged at the man’s audacity.

“Can’t you see we just buried our father?” she asked, tears streaming down her face, making her mascara run. She was only thirteen, but tried to look older to fit in with many of her boarding school classmates. 

Chloe was stunned when she finished telling her story. 

“Oh my god, Lo. I’m so sorry that happened to you!” She shifted closer and wrapped her arms around Lois. They hugged for what seemed like ages. 

Chloe lifted her head and looked at her. “Promise me something.”

Lois canted her head as she studied her cousin.

“Well, I don’t know if I can promise something without knowing what it is first.”

The blonde chuckled. “Yeah, guess I stepped into that one. Just promise me that if I ever get like that guy, you’ll tell me.”

“Chlo …”

“No, I mean it. I don’t want to be the kind of reporter that only cares about getting the story and nothing else. Especially at times like that.”

She could see her cousin meant it. If anything good came out of what had happened that day, it would be that Chloe would learn that there were times when it was inappropriate to expect someone to just drop everything for an interview. 

The next morning, Chloe had decided to go into school and work on the next edition of the paper. She took her own car to the school. Lois had been allowed to drive her uncle’s car so she drove to the Kent farm, wanting to get Clark’s side of things. The house had been quiet but when she’d checked the barn she’d found Clark.

“So, when’s the party?” she asked as Clark paused in his work. He turned and looked at her.

“What party?”

“The welcome home party for your brother.”

He scowled, which made her think she was right about things not going as he’d hoped. He flung the fork he’d been using away. 

“Unless you’ve come here to help with the chores, Lois, I’ve got a lot of work to do.”

She approached him cautiously. Clark was angry about something and this required gentle handling. She’d worked on a horse ranch the summer she was twelve and had watched one of the handlers working with a horse which had bolted in fright, just about breaking down one of the fences. He’d eased the animal’s fear by talking softly to it and approaching it slowly. 

Not that Clark was a horse, but she figured the same idea could work. 

“You’re upset,” she said. 

He glowered at her and turned away, stomping up the stairs to the loft. She followed him, standing on the last step as he flopped down on the couch. 

“I know what this is about,” she said. “It’s not quite how you imagined it, is it?”

He shrugged, refusing to comment. 

“You got this picture in your head, maybe played it over and over. It would be so perfect. Your brother would be the same guy who left three years ago and he’d be out playing ball with you, doing all the big brother things he used to do. But it didn’t happen like that.”

“What would you know?” he said sullenly, but his reaction suggested she was very close. 

“Maybe I don’t really know what you thought would happen, but I know how it would have felt for me. My mom would still be alive and I would come home to find her making a mess in the kitchen and my dad would come in from work and she would tease him about something and I’d just watch them dance around the kitchen.” She sighed softly. It would have been just like it was when she was little. Maybe she embellished it in her memory, but it didn’t matter. They would have had the perfect family. 

Clark shifted on the couch, the tension appearing to leave him. She moved closer and sat down beside him. 

“I guess I just … I wanted him back. I wanted it all back. The way things were before he left.”

Lois nodded. Clark had told her that Oliver had been sullen, especially toward the Kents, but he’d never acted that way toward his brother. 

“So, what happened? Last night, I mean.”

“It was like I didn’t know what to say to him. Plus, he had his girlfriend with him. Well, I mean, I don’t know if she’s actually his girlfriend. He met her on the island where he got stranded. And he barely talked to me.”

“You said he was in the Philippines, right?”

“Yes.”

“Um, I’ve been there. My dad took me there when I was about ten. It was some army thing. It’s a really long way away, even on military transport. Almost a whole day.”

“So what are you saying?”

“Just that he might have been really tired and stuff. If he was sick in a hospital, well, it’s not like he could just get over that in a day.”

Clark bit his lip. “Yeah, I guess I never really thought of it that way.”

“And here I thought you were just avoiding me,” a voice said from the stairs. Lois turned and looked at the man standing there. 

Good-looking was not the word. The man was hot! Tall with blond locks and brown eyes. Even pale, with dark circles under his eyes, he was very attractive. Not that Clark wasn’t. Hell, if she hadn’t known Clark was adopted, she would have wondered if it was in the genes. It was insane how both brothers could be so good-looking. 

Clark stood up abruptly. “Oliver, um, this is Lois.”

“Hello, Lois. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Hello. Um, how are you?” she asked politely. 

“Well, as you rightly pointed out a minute ago, I’m still recovering.” He looked at Clark. “Martha wants us both in the house. Apparently the news is out that I’m home.”

“Nixon?” Clark asked. Oliver shrugged. 

“I don’t know.”

“Who’s Nixon?” Lois asked.

The blond looked at her. 

“Roger Nixon. He’s with the Metropolis Inquisitor. He tried to ambush me and Clark in the school parking lot yesterday.”

“Oh. Maybe I should talk to Chloe. She might know him.”

“I don’t know,” Clark said. “Chloe and I …”

“I know all about it,” she assured him. “And we talked about it last night.”

“Oh. Good.” He seemed surprised by that. Surprised, but pleased.

Lois followed them into the house. Martha smiled at her. 

“Hello, Lois. How are you, sweetie?”

“I’m good, Mrs K. Um, can I use your phone to call Chloe? I haven’t gotten a new phone yet.” She’d had to cancel her account when her father had passed away and hadn’t got around to asking her uncle to sort out a new one for her. 

“Of course you can, sweetheart.” She turned to the boys. “Clark, Oliver, we need to talk about what to tell the media.”

Lois watched as the family sat down at the table. A woman not much older than her was hovering nearby, looking as if she didn’t quite know what to do with herself. Jonathan stood by what looked to her like a space-age coffee machine.

“Would you like one, Lois?” he asked, clearly having seen her eyeing the thing. 

“Um, if it’s not too much trouble,” she said.

“No trouble at all,” he replied with a grin. 

Lois called her cousin’s cellphone. Chloe picked up immediately.

“Clark?”

“No, it’s me. Um, do you know of a guy named Roger Nixon? He’s a reporter at the Inquisitor.”

“Nixon … Nixon. I don’t know the name, but I do have a contact in Metropolis. Give me a few minutes to do some research on him.”

“Okay, come out to the farm when you’re done,” Lois told her cousin. The phone began beeping in her ear, indicating there was another call on the line. “Um, sounds like someone’s trying to call. I’ll see you soon, I guess.”

“No worries,” Chloe assured her. 

As Lois ended the call, the phone rang again. Jonathan handed her a cup of coffee and took the phone from her.

“Kent residence. Oh, Mr Collins. Good. You got my message. Yeah, we’ve had calls here already. No, listen, I want you to get someone from the PR department … I know you’re in Star City, but we need to get something in motion quickly. He’s barely had time to … I’m aware of that,” Jonathan said, his voice rising. “But you need to understand that Oliver only just got back in the country yesterday and he’s still recovering from his illness. No, I will not put him on. I don’t want my boys’ lives to be disrupted by this, you understand me?”

Oliver got up from the table. Lois could tell from the slowness of his movements that he was not completely well. She guessed that even though he’d been discharged from the hospital, he was supposed to be resting. That obviously wasn’t going to happen since his return was going to be big news. 

He stood next to the blond farmer and gestured for the phone. Jonathan looked worriedly at him but handed it over. 

“Collins, it’s Oliver. No, you listen. I don’t care what it takes, you get someone from the PR department here as quick as you can. We’ve already had a damn reporter try to ambush us and I am not up to … Well, as I am now officially the owner of the company, I am telling you to follow my orders, or you’re fired. Oh, you bet I can. I’m not some snot-nosed kid anymore. You’ve got the company jet. Send them over. Yes, I do understand it can take a few hours. I just spent three years on a goddamn island, Collins! I learned patience.”

Lois stared at him as he hung up the call, almost slamming the phone down. The conversation reminded her a little of her dad, who often barked orders the same way. She felt a little twinge of pain and swallowed. Oliver frowned at her.

“What?”

“Uh, nothing. It’s just … it sort of reminded me of my dad,” she said.

“Your dad?” he asked.

Jonathan nudged him. “We told you about Lois on the plane,” he said. “Her father was General Lane.”

“Oh,” he said. “I’m sorry for your loss. How are you doing?”

“I’m okay. It’s gonna take time, I guess.”

He nodded and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I was just about your age when my parents died, so I know how you feel. It gets easier. I think you’ll always miss your parents but one day you’ll be able to think of them and smile rather than feel bad because they’re not there.”

She smiled at him, comforted by his words and sympathetic look. 

“Oliver, honey, come and sit down. You too, Lois.”

She followed the blond man to the table and sat down, nursing her coffee, listening as the family began talking about strategies.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver needs to clear the air.

Oliver liked the girl Clark had befriended. She seemed a little quiet but that was understandable given what she had gone through. The poor kid just hadn’t had a break, he thought sympathetically. 

He was still feeling jet-lagged but figured it would be a while before he felt truly like himself again. Even the doctor in the hospital had told him it would take time for things to come right. His body had had to adjust to living without the comforts of modern life for three years. It would have to readjust. 

He didn’t know exactly what they were going to do now that the media had somehow managed to get hold of the story. The early morning news bulletin had already aired a brief story saying he had ‘returned from the dead’, but it had been the bare bones of a story. 

Oliver was still concerned about the reporter who had ambushed them at the school, wondering how Nixon had even learned they were there. A journalist from the Metropolis Inquisitor had no business even being on school grounds. The Inquisitor was a tabloid newspaper, more into publishing sensationalist stories rather than actual news. Which begged the question. What trashy article was the man chasing in Smallville? 

There was a knock on the door. Clark got up to answer it, coming back a minute later with the blonde girl Oliver had met the day before. He remembered she was the one who had demanded the exclusive. 

“Did you know there are a ton of news vans out on the highway?” Chloe said.

“Is there a sheriff’s department vehicle out there as well?” Jonathan asked, telling them when the calls had started coming in he’d asked his friend, Ethan, who was the local sheriff, to send someone out. 

“Yeah,” she said. “Uh, anyway, Lois asked me to look into this guy Roger Nixon and let me tell you, he is a real piece of work. You know that story that was in the Ledger the other day?” she added, looking at Clark.

“Which one?”

“The one on Lex.”

Oliver frowned, wondering what Lex had to do with Smallville, but kept listening as Clark explained to everyone that there had been a robbery at the Smallville Savings and Loan. The girl who had done it had apparently the ability to shapeshift and had taken on Lex’s form. 

“Why is Lex in Smallville?” Oliver asked. Martha touched his hand. 

“Sorry, sweetie, we forgot to tell you that Lex is living in Smallville now. He has the mansion on Beresford Road.”

“Uh, why?”

“Because Lionel sent him to work at the Luthorcorp plant,” Clark explained. 

“Anyway,” Chloe continued, “the Inquisitor ran an article basically implying that Lex got off scot-free, even though the evidence plus a ton of witnesses proved it wasn’t him. So, get this: Nixon decides to come down to Smallville, but not before he gets his brother to pull some of Lex’s juvenile records.”

Martha gasped and looked at Jonathan, who nodded. 

“That’s highly illegal, not to mention totally unethical.”

Chloe snorted. “Like that ever stopped a guy like Nixon. Word from my contact at the Planet is that Nixon was fired from his job at a paper upstate because he employed the same sort of tactics he used to get the dirt on Lex. He’s come within inches of being jailed for breaching court orders. The Inquisitor was the only paper that would hire him, only because the editor’s just as much of a sleaze. I don’t know why he’s so interested in you guys, but whatever it is, it’s not good.”

That was an understatement, Oliver thought. 

Knowing it was going to be at least another three or four hours before the PR person would arrive at the farm, Oliver figured there was very little they could do in the meantime. 

“Mom, I’m gonna go out to the barn with Clark. Help him with some of his chores.”

She sent him an odd look. He got up and went to the kitchen, knowing she would follow.

“Everything okay, sweetheart?” she asked in a low voice.

“Yeah, I just thought Clark could use a big brother talk, that’s all.”

He might have been exhausted the night before but it hadn’t escaped his notice that his brother seemed out of sorts. He’d fidgeted a lot at dinner and barely spoke two words. 

Leaving the others in the house he went out with Clark to the barn. His brother looked a little confused.

“I don’t have any chores,” he said. 

“I know, kid. I just thought we should clear the air. Come on,” he added, leading the way up the stairs to the loft. 

He waited for Clark to flop down on the couch before grabbing the chair at the desk, turning it around and sitting down so his chest faced the back. 

“So, what’s going on?” he asked. Clark shrugged. Oliver kicked his ankle. “Don’t shut me out, okay? I know when something’s bothering you.”

“I don’t know. It’s just been kinda …”

“Yeah,” he said. “So, tell me more about this Tina kid. How did you figure it out?”

Clark bit his lip. “Well, here’s the thing. I sort of found out I can see through things.”

Oliver looked at him, stunned. “What?”

“Yeah. It was really weird. I thought I saw Lex in the street and stopped to talk to him, and then he threw me through a window. Well, when that happened I got this headache. At first I thought I’d hurt myself but then I saw their skeleton. Like I was looking at an x-ray. Like I said, it was weird.”

“Boy, you’re not kidding. What else happened?”

“It did it again in school. Me and Pete were in gym, you know, climbing the ropes and that’s when it happened. I was so shocked I fell to the floor. Must have been at least fifteen feet.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t put a hole in the floor,” Oliver commented. Clark had done that once, when he’d been little. He hadn’t learned to control his strength and in the midst of a tantrum he’d stamped his foot and it had gone through the floor. 

“I managed to control my strength so that wouldn’t happen.”

Oliver vaguely remembered after the incident, their father had begun talking to Clark about controlling his strength. It had taken a lot of experimentation but they’d eventually achieved it. 

“I really wish you’d been here, Ollie. I mean, I try to talk to Martha and Jonathan but it’s hard.”

Oliver had no idea what to say to that. He would never really know what it was like to be Clark – there was no way he could ever walk a mile in the kid’s shoes without getting his abilities, but at least his brother felt he could confide in him. 

“Can I ask you something?” the fourteen-year-old asked.

“Sure.”

“What really happened? I mean, did you leave on purpose?”

He looked at his little brother, stunned that Clark could think he would ever do that to him. 

“Why would you think that?”

“Something Whitney said the other day. Like you left because you couldn’t stand to be around us. Or me.”

Oliver got up and went to sit by his brother. 

“How could you ever think I would do that?” he said. “Man, I could strangle that kid.”

He had never liked Fordman. The kid was three years younger than him and had always acted like he was better than anyone else. Not just because his family was fairly well-off, but also because he’d been born in Smallville. The town was one of those that didn’t take too well to outsiders.

He was surprised at Whitney’s apparent change of attitude the day before, but given that Clark had saved Lana, the kid had probably been given a hell of a wake-up call. 

“It was … he was stupid.”

Oliver wrapped an arm around his brother. “Yeah, he is. The thing is, he doesn’t know anything about us, and that’s probably why he thinks he has the right to say things like that.”

“What did happen?” Clark asked.

Oliver told him everything. His little brother listened without interruption, practically hanging on every word. 

“I had a lot of time to think on that island. I realised the way I acted toward the Kents before – that was just wrong. They didn’t have to take us in, but they did it for Mom and Dad. Because they promised them they would protect us both. Or you, anyway.”

He got up and went to look out the loft window. The sun was shining brightly but he felt as if he would never be warm again. Part of it, he knew, was the illness, and the fact that he’d spent three years on an island where the climate was a lot milder than Kansas. Another part was something that had haunted him during those three years.

“You want to hear something? I don’t think what happened to Mom and Dad was an accident. Nor do I think what happened to me was just chance.”

“What do you mean?” Clark asked.

“I think someone was trying to kill me. And I think our parents were murdered.”

Clark stared at him, stunned at this revelation. 

“How do you know?”

“That’s the thing. I don’t. Not really. But like I said, I had a lot of time to think on the island and I remembered things. Conversations between our parents and other people. I’m just not sure I know where to start looking.”

“I can help.” Clark looked almost excited at the prospect of having a genuine mystery to solve.

Oliver grinned, remembering his little brother had loved watching Saturday cartoons like Scooby Doo mysteries with their father. 

“Yeah, I bet you can. With your abilities, we might even have a chance of uncovering the truth.”

“Not just me. I bet Chloe could help. So could Lois. I mean, Chloe knows a few people.”

“And Lois?”

“Well, her dad was a general. I bet she’d know a few people in the military.”

“All right,” he said. “We’ll talk to them.” Something occurred to him. “How much do they know about you?”

“They don’t know about my powers.”

Oliver didn’t know if Clark’s abilities had anything to do with what had happened, but he wasn’t going to rule it out. As for telling the girls, he figured they would just cross that bridge when they came to it. 

Given Chloe’s apparent curiosity, Oliver wondered how long it would be before the girl uncovered something about Clark anyway. It was a concern, but he wasn’t going to voice that to his little brother. Not yet.

Speaking of whom, he thought, as the girl in question came out of the house and ran across to the barn. Oliver saw the vehicles on the highway were still there, with photographers and news crews trying to get past the small blockade of sheriff’s deputies. 

Chloe came up the stairs.

“Mrs Kent just got a call. Your PR girl is on the way from Metropolis.”

“Thanks Chloe. Tell Mom we’ll be right in.”

She turned around and left, going back to the house. Oliver looked at his brother, who was frowning.. 

“Why are you calling Martha Mom?” Clark asked. “You never did that before.”

Oliver had thought about it many times on the island. If only he could see his family again, he would show them how grateful he was for everything the couple had done for them. They could have refused to take them in, but they hadn’t. Martha had been there all along to help them come to terms with their loss and support them. If that wasn’t the definition of a parent, he didn’t know what was.

“Well, in many ways, she is our mom, Clark. I mean, maybe they never officially adopted us, but they’ve been there for us since you were six. I think our parents would be happy to know that we were loved and cared for. And I think it’s the least we can do.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark thinks over the talk with Oliver.

Clark followed his brother back into the house. Martha had made coffee and baked some cookies. They were still warm from the oven, the aroma of sugar and buttery goodness in the air. Oliver looked almost gleeful as he grabbed a couple of cookies.

“Ooh, you know there were a few things I didn’t miss about civilisation on the island, but I sure missed your cookies Mom.”

She laughed. “Well, help yourself, sweetheart. There’s plenty more.”

Clark took a couple for himself and went into the living room. Lois and Chloe were sitting quietly together, looking at Chloe’s laptop. She looked up at him as he sat down next to her.

“You okay?” she asked.

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

For the first time since he’d heard the news that his brother had been found, Clark felt he could really relax. The long talk with Oliver had definitely helped. Not only had he managed to talk over his new ability, but he’d been reassured that one of his long-held fears had been just that. A fear. 

He’d never even told Martha and Jonathan about his worry that Oliver had left them on purpose. It was true that his brother had had a few problems after they’d moved to Smallville. He’d resented being sent to a town in the middle of nowhere. Despite that, Clark had never thought his brother would run away and it hurt to think that there had been a possibility he’d done just that when he’d disappeared. 

He was relieved to know that hadn’t been the case. Although now he was worried that whoever had caused their parents’ deaths and Oliver’s disappearance might try to do it again. 

He looked at his brother but Oliver just smiled at him before shooting a look at the others. There was plenty of time to discuss the problem, the look said. 

The woman from Queen Industries’ PR department knocked on the door a short time later. She was a petite woman, a little plump but seemed nice enough as she introduced herself to them. She appeared to be a little self-conscious, pushing up her glasses by placing her middle finger on the bridge. 

She got to work quickly, accepting a cup of coffee from Jonathan before taking out a laptop. She listened as Oliver told his story for what was apparently the third time in less than a week. 

“All right,” she said. “How do you want to do this? I could write up a press release, but given that the media are practically camped out on the highway, I would say getting the news out is not a problem.”

Oliver nodded. “What would you suggest?”

“I’ve worked as a journalist, Mr Queen, so I know what they are hoping for. We can call an immediate press conference. It’ll only take a few minutes to set up. As for what to say, I would suggest just telling them the bare facts of what happened and where you’ve been for three years.”

Chloe spoke up. “Don’t you think they’d want an exclusive interview?” she asked.

The woman looked at her. “Miss …”

“Sullivan. I edit the Smallville High school paper.”

“I see. Yes, that is something that can be done, but right now, the reporters out there are looking at looming deadlines. They want a front-page story; they want a headline, not a tell-all.”

“We’ve already had a reporter from the Inquisitor trying to get an interview,” Oliver told her. 

“Yes, so Mr Collins advised. If you want my advice Mr Queen …”

“Please, call me Oliver,” he said with a smile. 

She smiled back. “All right. Oliver. Please call me Robyn.”

“Thank you, Robyn. What is your advice?”

“Steer clear of the likes of the Metropolis Inquisitor. They’re more likely to come up with some sensationalist bullshit … oh, sorry, please excuse me.”

Everyone, including Tess, who had been observing quietly for much of the day, laughed. Robyn blushed and apologised again.

Martha smiled at her. “No need to apologise. Jonathan’s said worse.” To which her husband shot her a look that Clark supposed was meant to be innocent. 

“Besides, I like someone who isn’t afraid to call a spade a spade,” Oliver replied warmly. 

“So, first things first, we need to deal with the media already out there. They’re not likely to go away now that they’ve sniffed a good story, so I would suggest I go out there and talk to them, giving you the chance to think about what you’re going to say. I do advise just sticking to the facts.”

Clark decided to speak up. “What if they start asking questions about what happened?” he asked. 

“I’ve no doubt they will. If they want answers as to what you think was behind what happened, all I would say if I were you is that is a matter for the authorities to investigate and leave it at that.”

Oliver nodded. “Thank you, Robyn.”

As agreed, she went out to speak to the reporters. Within a few minutes they had all gathered their equipment and were allowed onto the driveway. Oliver went out, supported by Martha and Jonathan, while Clark, Tess and the girls watched from the porch. He heard several camera shutters clicking. Once Oliver was finished talking, several reporters put up their hands to ask questions. Robyn controlled proceedings by picking one reporter at a time.

The impromptu conference went on for an hour, by which time Oliver was starting to look very tired. 

“How much longer is this going to go on?” Tess asked. “He needs his rest.”

Clark nodded at the redhead. He still didn’t know that much about her, other than what his brother had told him, and wasn’t completely sure he could trust her, but he could see she was worried about Oliver. 

It appeared Martha and Jonathan could see Oliver was flagging as well as he saw Jonathan speaking quietly to Robyn. She glanced at Oliver and nodded, turning to the reporters to call a halt to the conference. Some protested but she was firm with them. Clark liked the manner in which she dealt with it all. She was coolly professional but not unfriendly. 

The sheriff’s men quickly made the reporters return to their vehicles. Within minutes the highway was clear. 

They all returned to the house. Oliver sank down on the couch, clearly relieved it was over. Robyn gathered her things. Martha protested she should stay for dinner but the woman gently declined. 

“I’ll be staying at the Smallville Inn,” she said. “I’ll come back in the morning when you’ve had a chance to get a good night’s sleep so we can go over any media requests and communications with stakeholders.”

“I’ll be here,” Oliver promised. “Bright and early.”

“Get some rest, Oliver,” she said. “You did well today, but I’m afraid the media circus is only just beginning.”

He groaned. “Don’t I know it. Thanks Robyn. See you tomorrow.”

Martha got up to show Robyn to the door. She came back in a few moments later. 

“I should get dinner on,” she said. “Tess, would you like to help me?”

The redhead got up, clearly happy to have something to do rather than just listen to the conversation around her. While she didn’t strike Clark as the shy type he wondered why she had chosen not to contribute to the discussion. 

“Uh, we should get going,” Chloe said, looking at her cousin. “My dad’s probably wondering where we are.”

Martha nodded. “Thank you for investigating Mr Nixon for us, Chloe.”

The blonde beamed. “No worries.” She looked at Clark. “Are you gonna meet us at the Beanery tomorrow?” she asked.

“I can’t. I got banned, remember?”

Lois scowled as the others spoke up, wanting details. “It was totally bogus. Whitney tried to start a fight with Clark and the manager kicked them both out.”

“Who was the manager?” Martha asked. “Perhaps I should go down and talk to her.”

“It won’t do any good, Mom,” Clark said. He’d thought over everything his brother had said and decided Oliver was right. Jonathan and Martha might not be their parents officially, but they’d always been there for them. He saw his brother hide a smirk and knew what he was thinking. So what if he copied everything Oliver did? If she noticed, she didn’t say anything. 

“It’s probably best if you lay low tomorrow anyway,” his brother replied. “All the papers will be out by then.”

“That is true, honey.”

“Good thinking, son,” Jonathan said at the same time. 

“Well, we should get back home,” Chloe said, nudging Lois.

“Thank you again, girls,” Martha said. “We do appreciate your support.”

Clark got up to let them out, watching as they stepped off the porch and got into their cars. The sky was beginning to darken and it looked like it was going to rain. 

“Drive carefully,” he called. 

“We will,” Chloe said with a smile. “See ya.”

He went back in to find Jonathan had turned the television on, probably looking for the news bulletin. He’d tuned into a varsity football game and settled back on the couch. Oliver was leaning back in the armchair, his eyes closed. 

Clark sat down next to Jonathan and tried to focus on the game but kept glancing over at his brother. It wasn’t long before the other man’s chest began rising and falling in a steady rhythm. He nudged his guardian and nodded in the direction of the armchair, smirking.

“Don’t even think about it,” Jonathan whispered. 

Clark rolled his eyes, but settled back to watch the game. He’d often thought about joining the school team, but Jonathan had told him it wasn’t a good idea, given his abilities. He claimed Clark would have an unfair advantage. 

Maybe that was partly true, but it felt like the older man just didn’t trust him to know how to control his abilities. It was one of the few things that had bothered him since he’d learned the ‘big secret’. Martha had tried to assure him that it wasn’t about trust, but he didn’t really know what else it could be. 

Lost in thought, he didn’t realise the football game had been paused for the news break. 

“In breaking news, the eldest son of the late Robert Queen, former CEO of Queen Industries, has been found. Oliver Queen returned to the United States yesterday after an absence of three years. Mr Queen told reporters he had been stranded on a desert island in the Pacific. He claimed in a press conference today the family yacht, the Queen’s Gambit, was taken over by pirates and later destroyed.”

Footage of Oliver with the Kents at his side was shown next, talking about his ordeal.

“Who was behind it or why it happened is something for the authorities to investigate and we will be talking to them very soon.”

“Mr Queen was discharged from a hospital in Manila two days ago and left the Philippines in the company of his guardians, Jonathan and Martha Kent, as well as a woman who has not been identified at this time. Martha Kent was the cousin of Laura Queen and took in both Queen boys at the behest of the late Mrs Queen. We’ll have more on this story as it unfolds.”

Oliver snorted and sat up, blinking. “Did I miss it?”

“Afraid so, son. At least they stuck to the facts.”

Clark was very familiar with the way news reporters tended to write things out of context, which could sometimes skew things, but it hadn’t happened in this case. At least, not with that news report. The next one might be different, he thought. 

Tess came back in. “Dinner’s almost ready,” she said. She looked at Clark. “Martha wants you to set the table, please.”

He nodded and got up, going out to the kitchen to get the cutlery and dinnerware. 

“Was that the news bulletin I heard?” Martha asked.

“Yeah,” he said, putting the plates down on the table. “It wasn’t too bad.”

“Good. I imagine it will get worse though.” She turned and looked at him. “You okay, sweetie?”

“Yeah, Mom. I’m fine. We had a long talk, out in the barn. It’s cool.”

He didn’t know if Oliver wanted to tell their guardians his suspicions and Clark wasn’t going to say anything without checking with his brother first. 

“That’s good. I’m glad you two had a chance to catch up. I know it’s going to be an adjustment, having him home. You just need to remember he’s been away three years. It will take time for things to get back to normal.”

“I know,” he said. 

Guided by instinct or whatever, he wrapped his arms around the redhead in a hug. She appeared a little startled but pleased.

“What’s that for?” she asked.

He shrugged. “You know. Whatever.”

She smiled and shook her head, obviously a little flustered. “All right. How about you finish setting the table.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he returned with a grin.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois talks to Chloe

Lois was just getting ready for bed when Chloe came in and sat down on the armchair in the corner of the room. She frowned, her hand digging for something underneath her. She pulled up a bra which Lois snatched off her and stuffed in the drawer. 

“So, Oliver’s pretty cute,” she said. 

“So is Smallville, but you don’t see me jumping his bones anytime soon.”

Her cousin cocked an eyebrow at her. “You think Clark’s cute?” Her tone sounded off, as if she was a little offended by that.

Lois rolled her eyes. “Come on, Chlo. I know you’ve got a major crush on him but you don’t have to be jealous! I’m not looking to date either of them.”

Chloe looked slightly disgruntled. “Why not? You could have practically any guy you want.”

“So could you, if you quit with the self-pity routine. What guy wouldn’t want you? You’re smart, pretty. Smarter than me.”

“Guys don’t want smart. They want bimbos.”

“What rock have you been hiding under? Besides, if a guy’s threatened by intelligence, then he’s an idiot. Or a jerk.” She turned away from her cousin to pull on her pyjama top. “You know, my dad once told me this story. About when he met my mom. He said she got the best grades in high school and all the guys were after her. Okay, so some of them only wanted her to help them cheat on a test, but that was their loss.” She sat down on the bed and pulled her socks off.

“Anyway, Dad said he wasn’t the brightest kid in their class, but she once told him he at least tried. And that mattered to her more than the smartest guys in the entire school.”

Her cousin bit her lip. “Yeah, but …”

Lois sighed. “Look, I may not have known Clark that long, but he seems to really care about you. I just don’t think he sees you the way you want him to.”

“I just wish …”

“Well, don’t. Life isn’t like one of those commercials where the dowdy secretary starts wearing this amazing perfume and suddenly the hottest guy in the office notices her. If it’s meant to be, it’ll happen. You can’t force him to like you that way.”

Chloe studied her. “You seem to know a lot about this stuff.”

Lois shrugged. “There was this guy. Wes. When I was twelve I got this huge crush on him. He was like five years older than me and he wanted to join the special forces unit. Anyway, right before he was about to leave for a new assignment, we were fooling around in this storage unit. We weren’t supposed to be there and Wes had snuck in this bottle of bourbon.”

Her cousin stared at her incredulously. “You were drinking at twelve?” 

She shook her head and explained that the incident had happened the summer before. Not long before her father had died. They’d been stationed at Fort Addelson, where her father had been assigned to close the fort down. They’d moved to Colorado two months later.

Lois and Wes had just been talking. He’d been as close to a best friend as she ever knew. An army brat like herself, Wes’ father had been stationed at some of the same bases as the general. Lois had spent a lot of time with her friend.

Whether he realised she’d had a crush on him was something she hadn’t known at the time. She’d just drunk enough bourbon to feel emboldened and had leaned forward to kiss him. Wes had fallen off the crate they’d been sitting on. It had never been clear if he’d just fallen because he was drunk or because he was trying to pull away.

Not that it mattered, she thought. Wes had left two days after that and she’d never known how he felt about her. 

“Wow!” Chloe said. “So you never …”

“Nope.”

“And you haven’t seen him since?”

“I got a card from him when Dad died, but he never mentioned what happened.”

“Well, that sucks.”

“Yeah.” She huffed. “Anyway, my point is, with you and Clark, if it’s meant to be it’ll happen. If not, you’ll still be friends. Besides, I think sometimes people are better friends because they don’t date. I mean, who needs all that pressure? Trying to look your best and act like someone you’re not.”

“You know, you’re right. The whole dating thing is just dumb.” Chloe yawned. “I should go to bed. Night cuz.”

“Night Chlo.”

She lay awake for a long time that night, thinking about Wes. Her father hadn’t exactly approved of Wes, not because of what he wanted to do with his life but because he was considered too old for Lois to be hanging out with. Never mind the fact that she had been independent since her mother died. 

He’d once asked her if she’d thought about joining the army herself. Having witnessed the way her mother had tried to hide her disappointment in her husband’s constant comings and goings on missions, Lois had decided it would be the last thing she’d want to do. She couldn’t imagine being with someone who put their work ahead of their family. She didn’t want to be the one left behind. 

Her dreams that night were full of images of her father, of Wes the last time she saw him, looking smart in his uniform. They were so vivid it was almost like they were really there with her. Then things got weird. At first it was just something red flashing by, then it felt like she was flying with someone. She couldn’t tell who it was, only that he was wearing red and blue. 

She didn’t mention the dream to Chloe when they got up. They went out to breakfast, still in their pyjamas. Her cousin looked just as tired as she was, helping herself to her father’s black coffee. Uncle Gabe tried to grab the cup from her hands.

“You don’t normally drink coffee this early on a Sunday,” he said. He frowned at her and laid a hand on her forehead. “You all right, honey? You look a bit peaked.”

Chloe shrugged. “I’m fine, Dad. Just … weird dreams.”

Lois moaned. “Mm, me too,” she said, helping herself to a cup of coffee.

There was a soft thud at the door. Uncle Gabe looked up. “That’ll be the paperboy,” he said.

He went out and opened the front door, grabbing the paper from the doorstep. He returned to sit at the counter, unfolding the paper. 

“Hmm, there’s an article here on Oliver Queen.”

Chloe immediately made a grab for the paper, but he pulled it away. 

“Come on, Dad!” she said in protest. 

“You’ve got plenty of time to read the paper,” he said. “I’ve got to be at work in an hour.”

“On a Sunday?” Lois asked. Her uncle shrugged.

“Luthorcorp doesn’t care about weekends when there’s work to be done.” He swivelled on the stool to grab the toast as it popped up, shaking his hand and hissing as he dropped it on the plate. Chloe tried to take advantage of his momentary distraction to snatch the paper but he was already onto her. 

Lois hid a grin in her coffee, watching as her uncle became absorbed in the article. He already knew the gist of it, since he’d watched the news bulletin the night before, but obviously the article was a little more detailed. 

“Goodness, three years on an island. And he found his parents’ bodies on there? The poor boy.”

“Uh, he’s twenty-one now, Dad,” Chloe said. He didn’t reply, continuing to read the article. She shrugged. “I wonder who he thinks might have been responsible for what happened to his parents.”

Lois knew what the contemplative look on her cousin’s face meant. She was thinking of doing some digging.

“Uh, don’t you think you should talk to Clark and Oliver before you go doing any digging?”

The blonde tried to look innocent. “I wasn’t thinking of doing anything!”

“Sure you weren’t. I know that face, Chlo.”

Uncle Gabe looked at his daughter. “Honey, I really don’t think investigating this would be such a good idea. Oliver says in this article he’s going to demand an investigation by the authorities, which is where I think you should leave it. With the authorities.”

“But Dad …”

“No buts, honey. If someone really did kill Oliver’s parents and get him out of the way, then they’ll be dangerous.”

The phone rang and he picked it up. “Gabe Sullivan. Yes, I’ll be there shortly.” He hung up and looked at them. “Problem at the plant. Be good, girls,” he added, kissing them both on the tops of their heads before leaving the kitchen. A couple minutes later Lois heard the car start up. 

She looked at her cousin. 

“So, what do you want to do today?”

“Go talk to Oliver and Clark some more.”

“Don’t you think Oliver needs his rest? He’s been back in the country less than two days, Chlo. He really doesn’t need to be badgered. He probably needs some time to adjust.”

“What better way to have him adjust, or readjust to living in Smallville than to act like everything is normal. I mean, you know what they say about falling off a horse …”

“This is different,” Lois told her. “You should leave him alone and let him spend some time with his family.”

There were times when Chloe needed to learn to back off and this was one of them. She knew her cousin was the curious type. If she had a question about something, she would worry at it until either she found the answer or someone gave it to her. This was a different type of situation and she knew better. 

Chloe sighed. “I guess you’re right. So, um, who was that girl with him?”

“Tess. Her name is Tess. I don’t know, except for what Oliver told the press.”

“She seemed kind of reserved.”

“Your point is?”

“Is she his girlfriend?”

Lois rolled her eyes. “What’s with the twenty questions, cuz?”

“I can’t help it,” Chloe said, sounding a little disgruntled at the mild rebuke. “It’s what I do.”

“And if Oliver wanted you to know all the details, he’d tell you! Just let it go.”

Chloe propped her chin on her hand, her elbow on the counter. 

“So, what do you want to do?”

“I’ve got homework I didn’t get done yesterday,” she said. 

Lois was not the best student. She had way better things to do than study a chapter on Shakespeare. She liked books but the Shakespeare plays just weren’t that interesting to her. When she was twelve, she had been forced to take part in a school production of Romeo and Juliet. The girl playing the lead had come down with a case of mono so Lois had been told to learn the role. The boy playing Romeo had refused to kiss her and made fun of her behind her back. It was only through a couple of the girls who were also army brats that she learned about it. 

“What’s the homework?”

“Shakespeare’s sonnets.”

Chloe groaned. “Ugh, I hate those. Let’s go to the Beanery.”

“You’ve just had breakfast,” Lois told her, indicating the dishes. “Don’t we have to clean up?”

Her cousin shrugged. “The last thing I wanna do is housework. Pete might be at the Beanery.”

Lois still didn’t know very much about Pete Ross. They’d met a couple of times in the Torch office, and in the Beanery, but since the rest of the gang were a year behind her, she had a different timetable. 

“Okay,” she said. “Race you to the bathroom.”

Chloe jumped off the stool but Lois was already ahead of her. She managed to get to the bathroom before her cousin. 

“Don’t go taking your usual marathon shower,” Chloe called through the closed door. “I’d like to get my own shower sometime this century.”

An hour or so later they entered the Beanery. The manager who had been on duty the week before looked at them, then looked behind them. Lois figured she must be thinking Clark would be with them. Since he was obviously not with them, the manager couldn’t say they were defying the ban. Which Lois still thought was ridiculous. Clark hadn’t done anything wrong.

Abby and Pete were sitting together in armchairs in the corner, nursing drinks. Abby saw them and waved. Chloe paused to order them a coffee each and joined the others. 

“So, big news,” Pete said, a huge grin on his face. His white teeth seemed to gleam brightly against the cocoa-coloured skin. “I’m surprised you haven’t got an exclusive already,” he added, looking at Chloe.

“Yeah, well I think I might be too close to it,” Chloe replied, surprising Lois. “I mean, Clark’s our friend. I don’t think I could be impartial.”

“I guess. Where’s Clark?”

“You know he got banned,” Lois reminded him. 

“Oh, yeah.” He looked up, then scowled. “Ugh, I hate that guy.”

Frowning, Lois turned around to see who Pete was talking about, then groaned quietly. Lex had just come in and was talking to the girl at the counter. She turned back to Pete, wondering why he had such a beef with the guy. Not that she liked him anyway.

“What do you have against him?”

“His dad cheated my family out of that creamed corn factory. They were just about to sign an agreement when the meteor shower happened.” He added his uncles had decided to back out of the agreement, having heard Lionel could be ruthless in business.

“Yeah, but the factory wasn’t exactly making a profit,” Chloe told him.

“Lionel Luthor promised my uncles he wouldn’t do anything drastic but he fired all the workers and gutted the whole place.”

“Forgive the interruption, but I hardly think you’re qualified to judge my father’s business decisions,” Lex replied. Lois looked at him, not realising the man was standing beside her. 

Pete snorted. “Yeah? Of course you’d defend him. He’s your dad.”

“And if you’d done your due diligence, Mr Ross, you would realise that all those workers you say my father fired would have lost their jobs when the factory closed for good. The business wasn’t just not making a profit, it was headed for bankruptcy.”

“It’s not as if the fertiliser plant is making money either,” Chloe pointed out.

“True, but that’s due to bad management in the past. Your father is doing an admirable job trying to keep the workers in line and I’m sure with his able assistance we’ll be able to have the plant operating in the black in the next few months.”

“You have an answer for everything, Luthor,” Pete said, grumbling.

“Perhaps, but you should know, Mr Ross, there are two sides to every story. Speaking of stories, I hear Oliver Queen had a rather harrowing experience.”

Lois frowned at him. “Why do I get the impression you think he might be exaggerating?”

“I never meant to imply such a thing, Lois,” he said with what she guessed was supposed to be a friendly smile. “Oliver and I went to Excelsior together for four years. And of course our fathers knew each other very well. I’d be interested in meeting up with my old classmate.”

I bet you would, she thought, shuddering inwardly, watching him walk away. Why did she feel dirty every time the man spoke to her?

Pete was still grumbling about Luthors and their business tactics. As much as she disliked the younger Luthor, Pete was not being fair.

“Um, Pete, can I ask you a question?”

He shrugged. She took that to mean assent. 

“Your mom’s a judge, right?”

“So?”

“Well, say one of the kids at school’s father commits a crime and your mom puts him in jail. Does that mean that the kid can attack you because of your mom?”

“No,” he said, looking puzzled. 

“I think I know what you’re getting at,” Abby said. She rarely spoke but when she did they listened. “What Lois is trying to point out is that you’re holding what Lex’s dad did against him. Right?” she asked, looking at Lois, who nodded. 

“Lex doesn’t control what his dad does. Besides, he was like nine years old when his dad took over the factory.”

“Well, I guess you’ve got a point,” Pete conceded grudgingly. He turned to stare for a moment at Lex who had sat down in another corner. He turned back to look at Lois. “Do you like him or something?”

“No. God no,” she said, suppressing another shudder. She might not agree with Pete’s dislike of the man, but she was sure she would have a whole different reason to dislike him.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver has plans

The phone had been ringing practically off the hook all morning. Robyn, who had turned up shortly after breakfast, had been fielding calls and talking to reporters. A couple of magazines had already begged for the inside story but the older woman had declined on Oliver’s behalf, telling them he wasn’t ready for an indepth interview. 

Oliver was starting to feel a little more like himself, although he still wasn’t used to ‘normal’ food. He’d hunted wild pig and birds on the island but even then, he’d only managed to catch a couple a week. The rest of the time he’d survived on what vegetation he could identify. 

When he wasn’t talking to Robyn, he was trying to talk Tess into staying. She’d confessed she felt like she wasn’t needed and had already hinted she wanted to go talk to her old boss and see if she could get her job back. The deaths of the others in Tess’ research group had been reported to the authorities two months earlier and Tess had been reported missing. She had told Oliver her boss was something of a hardass who would not have accepted kidnapping as any kind of excuse. He’d fired one of the research assistants after she’d ended up in a car accident and had been comatose for a week. 

“Tess, at least stay another day,” he said.

She grimaced. “I’m not really any use here,” she told him. 

“What if I got you a job working for Queen Industries,” he returned.

“As what?” she asked, half-laughing. “A secretary?”

“We do have a marine science division in Star City,” he told her. “At least, I think we do.” He looked at Martha for confirmation and she nodded. 

“You barely know what your father’s company does,” the younger redhead told him. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

He pulled her aside. “Tess, I …”

She sighed. “Oliver, if you want to ask me out, ask me. That’s what this really is all about, isn’t it?”

“Well, yeah,” he said. “Will you go out with me?”

“I’ll think about it,” she replied. “You need to be completely healed first.”

“Okay, I guess you’re right. But at least think about my offer.”

“Fine. I’ll consider it,” she told him. 

Robyn came over. “Sorry to interrupt but speaking of Queen Industries, the question will inevitably come up.”

“What question?” he asked.

“Whether you plan on taking over as CEO for Mr Collins. It is your right as the oldest heir.”

Oliver looked at his guardians. Martha shrugged. 

“Honey, it’s your decision, but if you want my advice, I do think you need to get a college degree first.”

He chewed on his lower lip. If the accident or whatever had never happened, he would have been headed to Metropolis University. He hadn’t had the grades to go to UC Star City, which had been his dad’s alma mater. Even a private college wouldn’t have taken him on his low grade point average. 

Getting a degree was low on his list of priorities. He knew he owed it to the Kents to listen to their advice, but he had other plans that he hadn’t talked to them about. Not even Clark knew what he wanted to do.

While he’d told his brother some of the things he’d been thinking about while stuck on the island, he had also been thinking a lot about various things he’d witnessed as a child. The one thing his mother had always taught him was that things happened for a reason and he felt the reason he’d been able to survive, the reason he’d been left on that island was so he could change from the spoiled kid he’d once been and help those who needed it.

Before he could do that, however, he knew he needed to solve the mystery of his parents’ deaths once and for all. 

Robyn left a short time later and Tess decided it was a good time for her to leave as well. Since he couldn’t persuade her to stay, he offered her the use of the corporate jet to fly her wherever she wanted to go. She declined the offer, since the lab she’d worked in and her apartment was on the east coast and Star City was in California. She did accept Jonathan’s offer to pay for her flight out of Metropolis, saying she would pay it back. 

Oliver decided to go out to the barn so he could get some peace and quiet. Martha had insisted he take an extra blanket out with him as the weather had turned cold. He turned on the CD player Clark had installed and listened to music as he sat idly sketching on a notepad. 

He didn’t realise he’d fallen asleep until he heard his little brother’s voice. Clark was sitting on the chair, the notepad in his hands. 

“What’s this?” he asked. 

Oliver blinked and sat up. “What? Oh, that. Just something I’ve been thinking about.”

“It looks like some kind of … costume.”

“Give it back, Clark,” he said, reaching for it.

“No.” His brother pulled it out of his reach. “I want to know what this is about.”

“It’s nothing to do with you, Kid.”

“Don’t call me Kid. I hate when you do that. I’m just as big as you now.”

“You’re still a kid,” Oliver pointed out. “Clark, please, just give it back.”

“No! What are you going to do? Dress up like Warrior Angel or something?”

“Not exactly. I don’t plan on shaving my head. And how do you know about Warrior Angel?”

“Lex. I went to this party once with Mom and Dad and Lex was in the coat closet, reading the comic. So if you’re not gonna dress up like him, what are you doing?”

“Just something I’ve been thinking about. For a long time.”

“Why?”

“Don’t ask stupid questions, Clark!” he said, irritated with his brother’s questions. 

“Damn it, stop treating me like a little kid. I’m fourteen, not four!”

“I don’t want you getting involved.”

“You just said I could help you find out what happened with the plane crash and stuff.”

He huffed. Maybe he had agreed to that, but he’d also made a promise when he was on the island, saying his final goodbyes to his parents, that if he ever got off the island he would do his utmost to protect his little brother. 

“I know what I said, but I don’t think you should get involved! There’s too much at stake!”

“Like what?”

“There’s a lot you don’t know,” he told his kid brother.

“You mean, like Veritas?”

Oliver frowned at him. “Wait. How did you know about that? I didn’t find out about it until I was twelve.”

“It was after you went missing,” Clark told him. “Jon … Dad told me. About Dr Swann and Lionel and … everything.”

Oliver was even more worried. Clark could keep a secret but that didn’t mean things couldn’t slip out. What worried him the most was who his little brother was coming into contact with.

“Speaking of Lionel …” he began. “What is the story with Lex?”

Clark frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, why is he here? In Smallville?”

“I told you. He’s here to look after the plant.”

“Why do I get the feeling that’s not the whole story?”

His brother shrugged. “I dunno. I mean, we heard he got into trouble and got kicked out of Met U, so Lionel sent him down here.”

“Lionel never cared one iota about Lex or what he did as long as he didn’t get caught.”

“I guess Lex did something that could have got him put in jail? I don’t know. I didn’t ask. Anyway, what do you mean?”

Oliver huffed. “Look, you haven’t grown up around people like that, Clark. You’ve been kind of sheltered. That’s not your fault,” he added, raising his hands as if to pre-empt any indignant response his brother might have. “It’s actually a good thing. Mom and Dad made me promise to always protect you and they made Martha and Jonathan promise too.”

“You mean, because of the … you know.”

“Mom and Dad’s worst fear was that someone might find out who you are and have you taken away for study.”

“Study? Like in a lab?” His brother’s expression suggested he hadn’t considered that idea. 

“Yes. Just like that.”

“That won’t happen,” Clark replied, shaking his head.

“You don’t know that. Look, I hate to say this, but how much do you really know about your friends? I mean, Chloe seems like a nice girl but rather naïve, especially with her journalism. I’ve been reading some of her articles about her theories on the meteors. She has no idea how close she could come to getting herself into some real trouble. It’s probably a good thing her theories aren’t being taken too seriously.”

“Chloe wouldn’t …”

“Wouldn’t she? If it suited her ambition, yes, she would. If she didn’t value your friendship so much. I can see how she feels about you, Clark, and that’s probably the only thing stopping her from digging too deeply into you.”

His brother appeared confused. “What do you mean how she feels about me?”

“She has a major crush on you, Kid.”

“No she doesn’t!”

“Yes, she does. Anyone with eyes can see the way she looks at you. The thing about that kind of infatuation, Clark, is that it can turn dangerous if it isn’t handled carefully.”

“Chloe would never do that,” Clark told him, clearly having more faith in the girl than Oliver did. Then again, he supposed it was too soon to judge her, since he’d only known her a couple of days. 

The girl’s cousin, on the other hand, was too new of an acquaintance even for Clark to make that kind of call. 

“And there’s Lex,” he said.

Clark huffed, looking annoyed. “I told you …”

“I know what you said, Clark, but I’ve heard some things about Lex. Look, I know I was not exactly an angel at school. At Excelsior, anyway. I did some stupid things that got me in a lot of trouble. That’s probably why Mom and Dad wanted me to be raised by Martha because they knew she’d refuse to take any nonsense.”

He’d reflected a lot in the past few days on his behaviour. He’d been spoiled and had made some very bad choices. However, nothing could top what he’d heard from his old schoolmates at the prep school. His friends, thinking they were superior to everyone else at the school, especially Lex and another kid who happened to be a scholarship student, had taken to bullying the more vulnerable boys. 

One thing Oliver had always heard in his particular social circle was that most people didn’t flaunt their wealth. His friends had been somewhat of an exception, but Lionel Luthor had been the type to throw money around, using it to get his own way. He’d obviously tried to pretend he came from old money, telling anyone who was anyone that he came from a long line of Scottish nobility. Even Oliver’s father had scoffed behind closed doors saying that if he really had come from such noble ancestry, he would hardly need to brag. There was also the fact that most of those noble families had lost their wealth long ago. 

Oliver knew his parents wouldn’t have liked the way his friends had behaved toward Lex, who was hardly to blame for his father’s snobbery. Robert had never believed in the whole ‘sins of the father’ idea. Still, Jeffrey and Alden, along with another boy of their acquaintance, had taken every opportunity to bully Lex and his friend Duncan, saying they thought he was a weird kid. Plus Lex had been top of their class. The trouble with bullies was that things that made a kid stand out was always a good reason in their minds to take him down a peg or two.

One day, Lex had pulled the two boys aside and told them he’d seen them stealing the answers to a test. Jeffrey and Alden had not been particularly bright, and too lazy to even try with their schooling. Stealing the answers to the test wasn’t the worst thing they had done, but the headmaster had been cracking down on cheating. Knowing they could get expelled, the two boys had agreed to Lex’s terms, which involved them leaving him and his friend alone.

Unfortunately, Duncan had refused to go along with the plan and it had resulted in Lex beating his friend. The other boys had stepped in, pulling him back, alarmed at the way in which the young Luthor scion seemed to have turned so violently on his friend. 

Clark stared at him as he finished relating the story.

“So what happened?”

“Duncan ran into the road and was hit by a car. The driver didn’t even have the time to stop.”

His brother looked horrified. “Oh my God! Why didn’t you tell someone?”

“Because that was the night of the party on the Queen’s Gambit.” He’d never had a chance to tell someone what had happened until now. 

“The thing is, Clark, it’s not the first time Lex has had some sort of breakdown. When he was about twelve, his little brother died. We don’t know what happened, but Julian was a baby. Lex began sleepwalking and the headmaster found him screaming his brother’s name, standing on the ledge of one of the school buildings.”

“That doesn’t mean …”

“I don’t know what it means, Clark, but I’m telling you, you need to steer clear of him. Lex is dangerous. Whatever Lionel sent him here for, it’s not as a punishment. I’m sure about that. If he knows about Veritas, then it’s possible he knows the truth about you.” 

Clark was quiet, obviously absorbing everything he’d said. Oliver heard the crunch of tyres on the gravel and stood up to look out through the window. A Porsche had pulled up. Lex got out of the car, removing leather driving gloves. He clearly hadn’t noticed Oliver at the window as he headed over to the house. 

“Great,” he said with a sigh.

“What is it?”

“Speak of the devil.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to be realistic about Oliver's return to civilisation. They didn't really go into it in the series. It occurred to me that if he was on a limited diet for three years, his body might not take too well to eating 'normal' food.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver meets Lex.

Clark followed his brother back to the house. He heard Martha speaking to Lex.

“Oliver’s resting, sweetie.”

“I’m here, Mom,” Oliver said as he entered the house. Jonathan and Martha were holding coffee cups, talking to the visitor.

The bald man turned and smiled at him, holding out a hand. 

“Oliver. Good to see you. I heard you had a rather interesting experience.”

Clark saw his brother cock an eyebrow and elbowed him before he could make some caustic remark. The hostility was coming off his older sibling in waves. Oliver got the message and shook the other man’s hand.

Clark remembered when the company’s CEO had decided to hold a service for their missing parents. Lex and his father had turned up. The elder Luthor had been almost jovial, greeting the two boys with vigorous handshakes and fake sympathy. Lex had just smirked and acted like a bored teenager. 

It hadn’t been long after that that Lex’s mother had died from a long illness. 

“I heard you’d moved to Smallville.”

Lex sighed. “Yeah. My father’s idea. Anyway, I just wanted to catch up with you. See if there was anything you needed.”

“I’m fine,” Oliver replied. “My family’s looking after me.”

“Must have been difficult. Being on an island for three years.” Lex’s tone was casual enquiry, but it sounded to Clark like he was digging for something. “The paper said you found your parents’ bodies?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“I’m sorry,” Lex said, although his sympathy seemed insincere. Now that Clark knew some of the things the bald man had done in the past, he couldn’t help but think that Lex was using the situation to his own advantage somehow.

What if he did know about Veritas? Clark thought. That would make his move to Smallville more suspect. 

“You know, when you’re caught up to speed on the company, we should meet. I have some deals I think you might be interested in.”

“Oh, really?”

Clark glanced at his guardians. If Lex was looking at some business deals, why hadn’t he approached Martha and Jonathan? Unless he was trying to take advantage of Oliver’s own lack of knowledge of the company. Given that his brother was technically in charge of the company, Lex might be gambling on Oliver’s eagerness to fill their father’s position without studying the company’s books. 

“Well, I do have a lot of catching up to do,” Oliver replied, giving Lex the hint that his offer was not welcome. Not this time. “How about I give you a call.”

“Of course. Well, I won’t wear out my welcome,” Lex said, sending a smile the older couple’s way. “It really is good to see you, Ollie.”

Oliver grimaced. No one called him ‘Ollie’ except his family and close friends. Of which Lex wasn’t one.

“Oh, before I forget,” Lex said, taking an envelope from the inside pocket of his jacket. “Your invitation to the museum exhibition next month. I hope you’ll come along, Ollie.”

He left without looking back. Oliver huffed. “I hate that guy.”

“Oliver!” Martha admonished him. “You could be a little more charitable.”

“Mom, if you knew what I’d heard about him from my friends at Excelsior, you wouldn’t be so welcoming.”

“These are the same friends who used to bully some of the other students at your old school?” Jonathan said. 

Oliver stared at them. “Uh, you knew about that?”

“Why do you think we refused to let you return to that school the Fall you came to live with us? We’re not blind, young man. We knew your friends were becoming a bad influence on you and frankly, we expected better.”

The blond looked shamefaced. “Uh, yeah, I’m sorry. I know I keep apologising for how I behaved, but …”

Jonathan put a hand on his shoulder. “Son, we know you regret some of the things that happened before you went missing. You can’t change the past, but you can learn from your mistakes. As for Lex, we believe you when you say there are things about that young man that are concerning. It’s why we chose to treat him with kindness. Perhaps we won’t reverse some of the damage his father has done already, but it may work better in our favour should the need for appealing to his better nature arise.”

“So, this is some kind of strategy?”

“I suppose you could call it that.”

Jonathan made a coffee for Oliver and Clark helped himself to a glass of juice. They sat down at the table.

“Clark said he knows all about Veritas,” Oliver said. Martha nodded.

“We haven’t spoken to Dr Swann, but we have your father’s papers, plus his Veritas journal.” 

“Do you think Lex knows?” Clark asked. “That I’m … you know …”

“It’s hard to say, son,” Jonathan said. “Lionel may suspect but as long as you don’t reveal your powers he has no proof.”

“You know, I remember some of those meetings Dad had with the group. I overheard Lionel and Edward Teague planning something."

“Your father never really did trust those two, which is why he talked to Dr Swann and used his own calculations to figure out where and when the ship was likely to land.”

As reluctant as Clark had been to pursue matters, he wondered if Veritas was the reason their parents had been killed. When he voiced his thoughts, he could tell his brother had been thinking along the same lines.

“I don’t know,” Martha said, looking dubious. “If that’s so, then why didn’t Lionel do something sooner? That’s if you’re really thinking Lionel was behind it.”

“Maybe he just didn’t have the opportunity,” Oliver said. “And Mom and Dad’s attorney would have handled the adoption details.”

What that meant for him, Clark had no idea. Obviously, Lionel had had plans for him, if he’d found him first. Given what he’d already heard about Lex and the sort of treatment the bald man had from his father, Clark was glad the Queens had found him first. 

“I’d hate to think what Lionel would have turned me into,” he said morosely.

Martha smiled at him and laid a gentle hand on his cheek. “Well, I for one am glad he didn’t. You are a gift, Clark. Both of you,” she added, looking at Oliver. 

“You are both very special young men,” Jonathan put in. “Your parents would be very proud of you.”

Clark felt warmed by the older couple’s love and praise. He knew he’d been very lucky his mother had asked the Kents to take them in. He and Oliver could have ended up being split up and sent to foster homes or worse. 

“Anyway, I want to start my own investigation into what happened to Mom and Dad,” Oliver said. 

“And I’m going to help,” Clark announced. Oliver sent him a sharp look. Clark quickly cut him off before he could say something. “I’m not a kid anymore, Ollie. You don’t know what’s been going on around here.”

His brother bit his lip, looking dubious. 

“Clark’s right, honey,” Martha said. “He’s old enough to make his own mind up. That doesn’t mean the two of you shouldn’t be careful.”

“Where do you plan to start?”

“The plane should have some maintenance records. I don’t think there’s any way to retrieve the black box.”

Clark nodded. The black box was what they normally called the flight recorder. Since the plane had crashed into the ocean, the box was probably at the bottom of the sea. Too much time had passed. 

“As for what happened to me, I was going to start with the company books.”

“Do you think someone in the company might have arranged your disappearance?” Jonathan asked. 

“I don’t know. I might be grasping at straws, but it’s a place to start.”

“You’re right. I’ve got all the files for the past few years,” Martha said. “We can start tomorrow.”

“Why not now?” Oliver asked, but the answer was obvious. He was beginning to look a little feverish. As much as his brother tried to pretend otherwise, Clark knew recovery from the illness would take time. 

Martha looked sternly at him. 

“You, young man, need your rest. You’ve barely been out of that hospital four days and you’ve been on a restricted diet for the last three years. You can’t expect to bounce back within a day or two.”

Clark grinned as his brother sighed heavily and reluctantly obeyed Martha’s order to go upstairs and rest. He decided to finish the rest of his chores which he hadn't got around to finishing. He’d taken a break earlier and gone up to the loft, only to see Oliver asleep on the couch. Then he’d seen the drawing on the sketchpad. It wasn’t a great drawing. His brother was a lot of things, but a good artist he wasn’t. 

He’d still been able to see that the sketch was supposed to be of Oliver in a green outfit. Something like a jacket, with green, almost skin-tight trousers. Alongside the sketch were notes on what materials should be used.

The drawing closely resembled a painting Oliver had once shown him of Robin Hood. His brother had once had a book about the legend of the famed archer. Given that Oliver had begun learning archery from a young age, it was hardly surprising that he’d choose something similar to wear if he was really planning on some kind of crusade. 

Clark wanted to go back up to the loft and look at the drawing again, trying to figure out what his brother had been so cagey about. He didn’t think Oliver was planning on doing anything illegal, but the fact that he had tried to hide the sketch from Clark meant it might not be approved by the Kents. 

He set to work cleaning out the feed trough. Jonathan came out to help him. 

“Everything okay, son?” he asked. “You seemed a bit quiet in there.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, I’m fine, I guess. It’s just, a lot to take in, you know?”

“It’s certainly been a hectic couple of days. But you know Oliver didn’t run away.”

“I know. We had a long talk about that yesterday.” He paused and looked at the blond man. They’d had their clashes over the years, mostly over Clark’s frustration at never being able to show what he was really capable of, but he knew the older man was only trying to protect him. There had been an incident when he’d first started school. Pete was being bullied by a third grader. When Clark had stepped in to defend his friend, even though he’d only been six-years-old at the time, the bully had tried to punch him. Clark hadn’t meant to do it, but he’d shoved the boy, who had wound up falling through a door. Luckily the door had been a wooden one, rather than one with glass panes and the impact had basically stoved-in the wood panelling. 

Jonathan had had to come down to the school and cover for Clark. Thankfully, the principal had believed Clark’s story about the bully and his guardian’s explanation that the wood had been cracked already so it wouldn’t have taken much force to break it. 

Once they’d got back to the farm, Clark had been in tears, afraid his guardian was going to punish him severely, but Jonathan had just taken him aside and talked gently to him about being careful as he was a lot stronger than other boys his age. 

Jonathan would have made a great dad, Clark thought. He knew how to be strict but fair. 

Clark paused in his work, watching as the farmer began using a fork to distribute the hay. 

“I’m kind of not looking forward to going to school tomorrow,” he said, confessing something he’d been thinking about all day. 

While he had been grateful for Whitney’s help on Friday, he knew there were going to be a lot of questions about Oliver and the news articles. He preferred to mostly keep to himself, or his small circle of friends, and wasn’t prepared to answer any questions about his brother. 

“What’s worrying you about school, son?” Jonathan asked.

“Well, I know the kids are gonna be asking a lot. I just don’t know if I …”

“Clark, you don’t have to answer any questions from the kids at school if you don’t want to. I already spoke to your principal, Mr Kwan, and he and the teachers are prepared to run interference if it gets to be too much.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Clark said quietly.

Jonathan put the fork down and came over, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I know I didn’t have to, but that’s what parents do, son.” He smiled. “You’re a good kid, Clark. I’m sorry if I don’t tell you that often enough.”

Clark grinned at him and nodded, returning to work. The two of them worked alongside each other, talking about trivial matters, until it started to rain. They covered what needed to be protected and headed back inside. 

Martha was waiting at the door for them. She looked troubled.

“Mom?”

“What is it, Martha?”

“Chloe just called. It’s Abby. They think she tried to kill herself.”

Clark stared at her. “What?”


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois and Chloe wait for news.

“I hate hospitals,” Lois grumbled. She had stretched her long legs out in front of her, crossing them at the ankles. The plastic chair she’d been sitting on for the past two hours was too low and extremely uncomfortable. Chloe was faring a little better, being petite, but she was also fidgeting, looking as if she would rather be anywhere but there. 

The sound of hurried footsteps could be heard along the corridor. The linoleum floors weren’t exactly the best for walking quietly, especially when the approaching party was wearing boots. Said boots came swiftly into view. Lois looked up and quickly got up off the seat as Martha reached her.

“Lois, Chloe.”

The whole family had turned up. Oliver looked a little sleepy-eyed and Martha explained he’d just been having a rest when he heard her talking.

“What happened?” Clark asked Chloe. He looked a little shell-shocked himself. Lois knew he had a soft spot for Abby. 

They were still trying to work it out themselves. Abby had been with them in the Beanery most of the day, but she’d left mid-afternoon. Her mother, Elise, had apparently called her and told her to run some errands for her as she was stuck at work. 

“I got a call from a friend of mine who volunteers here,” Chloe began explaining. “She told me Abby was brought in. We don’t know any other details.”

Lois nodded. “The shrink’s in with her now,” she said, nodding toward the room they’d been sitting outside since Abby had been moved from the emergency room. 

Chloe added that it looked like Abby had taken some pills as there had been a bottle found with her. A neighbour had called it in. 

The door to the room opened and the psychiatrist came out. He looked startled to see them gathered outside.

“Are you the family?” he asked.

“No. We’re friends,” Clark told him. 

“I’m afraid I can only discuss matters with the family,” he said.

Chloe spoke up. “There’s only her mom, and she’s at her clinic in Granville. I tried calling her but all I got was her voicemail.”

“I see.” He didn’t sound too pleased to hear that. The fact that her mother was unreachable was already a tick in the negative column. 

“Can we see her?” Clark asked.

“I don’t think that’s appropriate. Not until I’ve spoken with the mother.”

“I’m afraid you’ll have difficulty reaching her, Doctor,” Martha said quietly. “I don’t like to speak uncharitably of others but Elise Fine is …” She scowled and wouldn’t elaborate. It was pretty obvious she didn’t like the woman. 

“Selfish? Self-centred?” Chloe put in, earning her a look of reproach. “What? We’re all thinking it!”

Jonathan turned to the doctor. “Look, Doctor …”

“Sydell.”

“Doctor Sydell, we’ve known that young lady since she was six-years-old and I imagine right now she is feeling very alone. Now I’m no psychiatrist but I think it would be helpful to her state of mind if she saw a friendly face right now.”

The man seemed to consider it for a few moments. 

“All right. Five minutes. But if the mother shows up before then, I’ll have to kick you out.”

“Five minutes,” Chloe said. 

They entered the room. The blinds had been closed, giving Abby some privacy but Lois could see she was pale and wan. She lay on her back, her eyes closed as if she was trying to pretend she was asleep.

Clark sat down beside her, taking her hand. Abby opened her eyes.

“Hi,” Clark said softly. “Are you okay?”

She screwed her face up in sheer misery, shaking her head. She was clearly not okay. 

“What happened?” Chloe asked, moving to the other side of the bed. 

Lois rolled her eyes at her cousin. “Chloe …”

“No, it’s okay,” Abby said softly. Her voice was a little hoarse but Lois guessed that was because they’d had to stick a tube down her throat. “I just … You know how I had to go do those errands for my mom?” They all nodded. “Well, I …” She put a hand on her throat. “Sorry, my throat hurts.”

“You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to,” Clark said.

“I do. I want to tell you.”

She slowly began to explain what had happened. She had run into one of the football jocks while out. Brett. The worst part about it was that she had had a crush on the boy since tenth grade. Brett somehow must have known about it as he began making fun of her, calling her names like: ‘Scabby Abby’. She was used to that particular insult but when he’d resorted to calling her ugly and a ‘skank’, she hadn’t been able to take it anymore. 

She’d left the store without getting what her mother had asked her to get. She’d tried to tell her mother what had happened but Elise had been so angry on the phone, telling her she was useless and a waste of space. It had been the last straw. When she had returned home she had spied her mother’s sleeping pills. 

“Abby …” Clark said softly, squeezing her hand. His voice trembled as if he was fighting back tears. 

“I know I should have just ignored Brett, or talked to you guys, but I didn’t want to bother you. Not with your brother coming home and stuff. I saw the article, Clark. I’m so glad you …” She faltered at the sound of raised voices outside.

“I have a business to run! I can’t just drop everything just because my stupid daughter …”

“Don’t you dare, lady!” Lois recognised Oliver’s voice. “How dare you put your personal life over your own daughter!”

“I suppose you have no idea what your daughter’s been through the past few months!” Martha accused coldly. “My son has told me all about the bullying going on at that school and frankly, I think you need to take a long, hard look at yourself and the way you treat your daughter!”

“Oh, you’re a fine one to talk about children, Mrs Kent. I don’t believe for one second that preposterous story your son has spun about being stuck on an island! Don’t stand there and lecture me about parenting! You with your privileged life. Don’t think I don’t know how much easier it is for those born with natural good looks! The fact is, how I treat my daughter is none of your business!”

Lois looked at Abby. She was crying. 

The door was flung open and a woman with dyed blonde hair and far too much make-up stormed in. 

“You can stop that nonsense, Abigail! Get up and get dressed. I’m taking you home!”

“Mrs Fine …”

She turned to look at Dr Sydell. “Doctor Fine, if you don’t mind!”

“Doctor of what, if I may ask?”

“Cosmetic surgeon.”

Chloe got up and faced her. “A cosmetic surgeon who was struck-off for illegal experimentation on patients,” she accused. “Now you’re just a second-rate cosmetologist!”

“How dare you?” the woman spat. “I’ll sue you for libel, you little bitch!”

“Libel?” Chloe laughed in her face. “Lady, first of all, you need to get your terms straight. Libel is printed, slander is spoken. And it’s not slander if it’s true. I did a little digging while we were waiting for the doctor and I got it all from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.” 

Check, Lois thought with a grin. 

Elise pursed her lips but didn’t argue. Dr Sydell told her there was no way she was taking Abby home tonight, or for the next week. She still had to be assessed and a decision would be made whether to commit her to the psychiatric ward. Meantime, she was going to be under close watch. 

“I think we should let the young lady get some rest,” Dr Sydell suggested quietly, giving Abby a kind look. She appeared grateful for the doctor’s intervention. 

They all left the room. Elise looked as if she still wanted to argue but it was obvious she was outnumbered. She followed the psychiatrist down the corridor.

“Isn’t there something we can do, Mom?” Oliver asked. “If that’s an example of what that poor girl has to put up with at home, she’d be better off living somewhere else.” It was clear what he was suggesting. That they take her in. 

“I don’t know, honey. Perhaps we should call our attorney.”

“Can we do that? Now? Before that witch drives Abby further over the edge.”

Lois grinned. “Don’t you mean something else?” she said.

“I wasn’t gonna say it,” he returned with an answering grin. 

“I’d have to wash your mouth out, young man,” Martha returned with a chuckle. “As for calling the attorney, it is rather late. We can do it first thing tomorrow.”

Lois couldn’t help watching the blond man. She knew from what Clark had told her that his brother hadn’t exactly behaved like a model son before he’d disappeared. Obviously his experience had taught him some compassion. 

She wished there was something she could do for Abby but even if there was room at her uncle’s house, she knew it was going to take more than just providing a home for her. Abby needed some serious counselling. There were probably going to be some legal ramifications as well, since she was still a minor. There was no way they could afford an attorney to help, especially if her troll of a mother decided to fight it. 

As the group left the hospital she listened to the conversation. Martha clearly knew something about child welfare laws as she felt there was a good case of at least neglect against Elise Fine. Given her attitude towards Abby, Lois figured there was some kind of abuse as well. 

School the next day was chaotic. Everyone was either talking about Abby or Oliver’s return. Oliver had been a popular student at Smallville High. He’d competed for the school in Track, as well as archery. It had been inevitable that he would be the chief topic of discussion.

Clark was surrounded by students who wanted the ‘inside scoop’ on his brother. Of course, all the girls could talk about was how good-looking he was, fawning over Clark as if he could help them meet his brother. 

Lois had gym class before lunch and as she headed out on the field to class, she passed Brett and some of the other wastes of space that called themselves jocks. They were laughing about Abby, calling her a loser for trying to kill herself. Lois had to remind herself that fighting on school grounds was not allowed. Brett must have seen the look on her face when he walked past her as he looked down at her hand which was balled up into a fist. His eyebrow shot up.

“You got a problem, Anderson?” she asked. 

“No, but I’d sure like to,” he replied with a smirk.

“Yeah, well keep walking jerk. Don’t think I didn’t hear what you said about my friend. You’ve got one hell of a nerve!”

“Anderson, get your butt into the showers,” the gym teacher, Mrs Cooper called. “And you, Lane, just keep walking.”

“Real scary, Lane!” Brett shot back.

“You wanna see scary, Anderson? I’ll show you, you pathetic creep!”

Mrs Cooper grabbed her arm. “That’s enough, Lois. You’ve said your piece.”

Forced to continue walking, she was left seething. The teacher kept in step with her.

“Look, believe me, I know how you feel about what’s happened. I’m well aware of the bullying that has been going on in this school and if there were any proof that Brett Anderson or his friends were responsible for what put that young lady in the hospital, I would be the first to call for a suspension.”

“Can’t you do something?” Lois asked. “Abby didn’t deserve this.”

“I know, honey, but it’s up to Principal Kwan and unfortunately his hands are tied by the school board. Brett’s father is on the board and we both know he’s going to believe Brett over Abby.”

“It’s not fair!”

Mrs Cooper stopped walking and looked at her. The woman’s face was full of sympathy.

“I think you know that life isn’t fair, Lois. You would probably know that better than anyone at this school. I admire your compassion and I know you want to help your friend. I’m glad she has such good friends at this school. Otherwise I think this might have happened sooner.”

Lois had the impression the teacher knew a lot more than she was saying about what had happened to Abby. As if she understood it on a different level. 

“Mrs C, did this … do you … I mean, you kind of seem to know more than you’re saying.”

“You’re very astute, Lois. You know, I think you and your cousin would make excellent journalists. You have a gift for seeing through what’s on the surface. Yes, my sister and I were bullied when we were teenagers, just like Abby.” She sighed and made a face. “I had so many skin problems I got nicknamed Miss Vesuvius.”

Lois bit her lip. It was funny, but … not. She could imagine how hurt the woman must have been. She guessed it had probably been only a decade or so since Mrs Cooper had been a teenager. 

“Go on, it’s okay, you can laugh. It is funny, now that I look back, but the boys could be cruel even then. I had a slightly thicker skin than my sister.”

“What happened?” Lois asked, guessing from the slight tremor in the woman’s voice that something bad had occurred.

“She committed suicide. Two days before her sixteenth birthday.”

“I’m so sorry,” Lois said. 

The older woman nodded and turned to where the rest of the class was waiting. 

“We’d best start class,” she said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Personally, I hated Elise Fine and I felt she was more than responsible for Abby's lack of self-confidence. It shouldn't have mattered if the girl had bad acne. If her mother was a decent person, she would have helped her daughter gain some self-confidence, not used her problems to manipulate her. As for using her own daughter as a guinea pig ... :( Also, I know in the show she was supposed to be a cosmetic surgeon, but I think I've dealt with that.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver begins work trying to figure out what happened three years ago.

Oliver had spent most of the day studying Queen Industries’ accounts trying to sort through them all and figure out if there was anything untoward about them. He'd been trying to distract himself from thoughts over what had happened the night before. He was still angry over what had happened to the sweet girl he’d known since she and Clark had been in grade school together. Sure, she had bad skin and could probably use some counselling, but she was far from ugly. 

Martha sat down at the table with a coffee, placing a plate of freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies in front of him. 

“Eat up, honey. You’ve barely eaten all day.”

He grabbed a cookie and put his papers aside. “So, what’s the verdict, Mom?”

“Well, I talked to Abby Ross. She’s a judge now, by the way.”

“Cool! Good for her!” he said. He’d always liked Pete’s mother. She was a brilliant lawyer and would make an even more brilliant judge.

“Anyway, she only handles criminal cases but she did say we might have a case against Elise Fine. If we can get Child Services to investigate.”

She’d called the family attorney who had promised to start the ball rolling. Oliver didn’t know if they’d be able to take Abby in as a ward, but they had to try at least, he thought. There was no way he was going to let that little girl go back to live with that witch of a mother of hers. 

“What happens if they decide she has to go stay in the psychiatric ward?” he asked. 

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Unfortunately, the authorities do need to investigate. I don’t think it’s illegal, per se, but it is concerning.” She lifted her coffee cup to her lips. “Are you sure this is what you want to do, honey?”

“I think it’s the right thing to do, Mom. And you’ve never worried about taking in strays before. According to Clark, Chloe practically lives here as it is.” He hadn’t voiced his worries to Martha, especially about Chloe’s crush on Clark. He’d seen things like that get ugly before and the last thing he wanted to do was worry his little brother. Or his guardians. 

She was kind of cute. He had to admit that. The hair could use a slightly longer style, but she was pretty. Once she had lost some of that naivete and matured a little, he was sure she would be a woman to be reckoned with. 

“So, how is it going with the papers?”

He sighed. “It’s going to take me a while, I think. So far I don’t see anything untoward, but maybe Dad’s papers might give me more of an insight. I don’t know. Maybe I’m looking for something that isn’t there.”

“Don’t think like that, sweetie. You’ve only just started and you probably have a lot of papers to go through.”

“You’re right, Mom. Anyway, I thought about going and talking to some of the guys who were at the party the night I decided to take the yacht out.”

“There is one thing I’m curious about. Metropolis is a long way from the Philippines. Do you remember much from what happened?”

That was the trouble. It was all rather hazy from a certain point. He recalled that he’d decided to have the yacht sailed from Star City to Gotham where he’d partied with his friends for days. Soon, the novelty had worn off for his friends, or some of them had decided they were more interested in the vacations their parents had offered than getting drunk. 

Oliver didn’t want to admit to the older couple that he’d been drinking and doing drugs. He knew they would not approve, especially Martha. 

Whether it was the alcohol or the drugs, or a combination of both, he had no idea, but he’d kicked whoever remained off the yacht and proclaimed he was perfecting capable of sailing it all by himself. Without any idea of where he was headed or what he was going to do once he got tired of it, he had left. 

That was the last thing he remembered clearly before several men had boarded the yacht. He had figured they must have known the yacht at least and assumed who he was. Hmm, he thought. It had never occurred to him that it might not have been anything to do with the yacht itself.

If only he could remember what the men looked like or the boat they’d been on before they’d boarded.

“What is it, Oliver?”

He sighed. “I wish I could figure out who the guys were that boarded the yacht. I think if I saw their faces, I might be able to identify them, but …”

“It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack,” she said, nodding. “Is there anything you can remember at all? Like facial features?”

He shook his head. “No. Not really. I mean, they all had beards. One of them was African-American, but …” He frowned, trying to remember. The man had had very dark skin - darker even than many of the kids he’d known. Almost black. 

He hit his forehead with his fist, trying to coax the memory from his mind.

“Don’t try to force it, honey,” Martha said. 

Jonathan came in from the fields. “Hello, sweetheart,” he said. 

She got up to make him a cup of coffee. The blond farmer smiled at Oliver. 

“How’s the studying coming?” he asked. 

“I don’t know. So far I can’t make head nor tail of it.”

“Yeah, I couldn’t either. I was a terrible student at Smallville High. Guess I was more suited to farming than business.”

“Well, that’s why you have me,” Martha said, coming back with the cup. She ruffled her husband’s hair before sitting down again. She turned to smile at Oliver. “Did I ever tell you how Jonathan and I met?”

Oliver shook his head. “No.”

“It was a finance course at Met U. My father wanted me to be a lawyer, like him, but it didn’t interest me.”

“Well, at least he wasn’t trying to push you into marrying one,” Oliver replied, earning a grin from Jonathan.

“You should have seen her dad’s face when we told him we wanted to get married. I don’t think there’s even a name for that shade of red.”

“Puce, I think,” Martha said. She grimaced. “Telling him was the easy part.”

“What happened?” he asked, sensing things had not ended well.

“We got into a fight,” Jonathan replied, his expression suggesting he wasn’t exactly proud of that fact. “He told me there was no way he was going to let his daughter throw her life away to marry some farmer. I hit him.”

Oliver suppressed a laugh, realising that Martha probably wouldn’t have been happy. He only had vague memories of Martha’s father, who had been present at the reading of his parents’ wills. Mr Clark, who he supposed was technically a relative, had been handling the Kents’ side of legal matters. 

He’d never known his grandparents. Both sets had died long before he was born. What he did know about his own family was that Laura had been a Metropolis socialite. She had met Robert when she’d gone to a mixer at Excelsior. The pair had corresponded for a couple of years when he’d left for college. 

“Speaking of college, what have you decided about that, honey?”

He knew she’d talked to the dean at Met U asking about the possibility of him starting mid-way through the school year.

“I don’t know, Mom. I mean, I’m gonna be three years behind everyone. Not that that matters, I guess. I still have a month to decide.”

“Your education is important, son,” Jonathan advised. 

He understood that. He also knew that as the eldest son and heir to Queen Industries, he needed to think very carefully about whether he should take over the company. 

“Take your time,” Martha told him. 

He nodded. “Yeah, I will.”

“Meantime, how about you come and give me a hand with the cows,” Jonathan suggested.

He got up, glad to have a break away from the paperwork. “Sure, Dad.”

“Put a coat on, honey. It’s cold out there.”

He started to say something about a coat not being necessary but she shot him a look which told him not to argue. He grabbed the tan coat from the rack. It was Jonathan’s but it fitted him well enough. 

They went outside to help Earl and one of the other farmhands to move the cows to the inner pasture. Oliver shivered despite the jacket he was wearing. The Kansas air had a definite ‘wintery’ feel to it. There were still a couple of weeks until Christmas. Some years they only had a light dusting of snow in the lead-up to the holiday, but there had been a couple of winters since he’d come to live in Smallville where they’d had a heavy snowfall. 

They chatted as they worked. Jonathan caught him up on a few things that had happened in his absence. Clark had mentioned something about new abilities but he hadn’t mentioned anything about floating in his sleep. 

“God, that must have been scary,” he said.

Jonathan sighed. “He looked at me like he thought I knew all the answers, or that your dad’s papers might hold the key to what we can expect, but …”

“It doesn’t work like that,” Oliver finished. “Yeah, I get that. Still, the kid’s probably confused as all hell.”

They moved on to other work and different subjects. Finally, Jonathan asked about the island.

“What was it really like?”

“Lonely,” Oliver said. “I mean, there were the natives, but at first I didn’t know how to communicate with them. I had no idea what they were saying to me or if they were friendly. We eventually got around that, I guess.”

Finding the bodies of his parents had been the hardest thing he’d had to endure. Even worse than trying to sleep with his stomach cramping with hunger pains - the result of not having eaten for days. 

When he’d been fourteen, he’d gone on a field trip with his high school freshman class to the Metropolis museum. While he was there, he had seen a woman getting out of a car. She’d had blonde hair, the same colour as his mother’s. For a moment he’d imagined it was Laura, until she’d turned around. For just a moment, he’d hoped and prayed his parents had come back alive. 

Finding their bodies on the island had broken him. He’d wept for what seemed like hours, praying to whatever deity existed that if he could only just get off the island he would change, be a better person. 

As time went on, he’d given up hope of ever being rescued, but he’d never forgotten that lonely afternoon and the words he’d spoken in despair. 

“I told myself that I would make them proud of me. I’d make up for every horrible thing I said to you and Mom before I left.”

Jonathan put a hand on his shoulder. “Your parents would be proud of the man you’ve become, Oliver. Never doubt that.”

He looked up at his guardian and gave him a teary smile. Jonathan squeezed his shoulder and nodded toward the field.

“Come on, son. It’s starting to get dark.”

They had almost finished with their chores when Clark came home from school. Oliver looked at his watch, wondering why his brother was so late. It was almost dark. 

“Been helping on the newspaper, son?” Jonathan asked.

“Yeah. Chloe was cracking the whip.” He sighed. “Of course, the big news of the day was Abby.”

Oliver wasn’t surprised at that. His return was big news in the town as a whole but since he had graduated Smallville High three years ago, it wasn’t relevant for a school paper. Clark began working alongside them, telling them how he’d been surrounded by students asking for all the gory details of Oliver’s ‘adventure’. 

It seemed that Clark was no longer a member of the ‘Losers Club’. Temporarily anyway, Oliver thought. 

It was odd that his brother was considered one of the school losers, especially because he’d been so popular himself. Then again, Clark was not as outgoing as he had been at school. That was not all Clark’s fault. He’d been taught to hide his abilities and while he hadn’t been told to in so many words, he’d tried not to do anything that would make him stand out. 

God, kids could be cruel, he thought, his mind turning once again to the sweet girl in the hospital. He’d always liked her in a big brotherly kind of way. She was smart and funny. Who cared if she had acne? It was part of growing up. Sure, he’d been blessed with good skin which had fewer breakouts, but he’d still had them. 

He supposed the point was that he had grown up knowing that that kind of thing was only temporary and it didn’t change who he was, or that he had family who loved him. Therein lay the difference, he thought. Abby’s mom was definitely not ‘Mother-of-the-Year’. 

Martha called them in for dinner an hour or so later. Oliver sat at the table, feeling even more grateful for the loving home and the second chance he’d been given. He knew it could have turned bad on that island. The natives could have been hostile or he could have ended up eating something poisonous. 

There were plenty of people out there who found themselves in circumstances that were just as bad, if not worse. Maybe this was what his second chance was all about. Helping those who weren’t able to help themselves. 

“So, what’s going to happen to Abby?” Clark asked when the conversation turned to her.

“Our attorney is contacting Child Services,” Martha said. “I’m sure they’ll investigate.”

“If Elise is found to be unfit, what then?”

“Well, we don’t know what happened to Abby’s father,” Jonathan told Clark.

“Chloe said she was going to look into that.” Clark bit his lip. “You know, Chloe was really upset. I mean, this isn’t about a story for her. She feels bad that Abby …” He trailed off, looking just as upset as Oliver imagined Chloe was. He realised they were both blaming themselves for not being there for Abby. 

“Honey, you can’t blame yourself for what happened. Neither can Chloe. Sometimes there’s nothing you can do except be there to support your friend.” 

“Besides, we’re doing something about it now,” Oliver told his brother. “No matter what, she’ll know she’s not alone anymore.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark's day at school

It had been a rather strange day at school. As soon as Clark had walked in the front gate, he’d been surrounded by girls all eager for him to dish the dirt on his brother. It was as if the past few months of him being considered a ‘loser’ by the rest of the school hadn’t even existed. 

Thankfully, Mr Kwan came to his rescue. Sort of, he thought, since the principal had berated them all and told them to get to class before he started handing out detention slips. The girls had all looked extremely annoyed but went off to their respective classes.

Most of the day he didn’t seem to get a moment’s peace. Even in class, all the kids could talk about was the return of Oliver Queen. Either that or Abby’s suicide attempt. Clark was pissed when some of the girls who had been fawning over him, clearly trying to get him to introduce them to his brother, began talking crap about Abby. As if things weren’t bad enough for his friend, he thought. 

Sometimes he hated living in Smallville. Being such a small town, it didn’t take long for gossip to spread and the false rumours about Abby had already been around the entire school twice. 

He ran into Chloe during the day and she appeared to be on a mission, trying to write an article about Abby that wasn’t completely biased. She seemed to be upset about what had happened, talking a mile a minute as she usually did when she was on one of her crusades. 

He was heading to the Torch after school when he overheard some of the cheerleaders standing by the lockers talking about his friend.

“She’s just trying to get attention,” Mandy was saying. “She’s so ugly it’s the only way she can ever get anyone to look at her.”

Mandy was one girl he particularly disliked. She thought she was cool because she’d been picked for the cheerleading squad in the first round of trials. While she was considered an attractive girl with her dark blonde hair and lightly-tanned skin, Clark didn’t think she was all that pretty. 

She also had a habit of only dating boys who she considered had some ‘power’. When Clark had first started high school, Mandy had tried flirting with him, simply because of his family’s money.

As soon as she noticed he was watching her she smiled flirtatiously.

“Hello, Clark. Isn’t it wonderful your brother came home?”

“Yeah, wonderful,” he said coolly. “I heard what you were saying about Abby.”

“Don’t tell me you believe that loser,” she replied with a scowl, her demeanour immediately changing to a hostile one. “Seriously, why doesn’t she just build a bridge and get over it?” The other cheerleaders tittered as if that was the funniest thing they’d ever heard. 

Clark wanted to grab the snotty little so-and-so and show her exactly what he was capable of. He stepped forward, prepared to berate her at least when he felt someone standing beside him. 

“You better apologise, Mandy, before Clark says something I know he’s gonna regret. For your information, it’s because of little bitches like you that Abby’s in the hospital in the first place. Maybe for once you should try imagining how it feels to be bullied all the time.”

Clark turned and stared at Whitney, stunned by not only the way he was speaking to Mandy, but also by the way he was defending Abby.

Mandy scoffed. “Oh, come on, Whitney, we both know …”

“Yeah? I know I’ve been pretty much a jerk, but at least I know not to kick someone when they’re down. I’ve had my faults but you know what? The one thing about Abby is that if the situations were reversed she wouldn’t be standing here gossiping about you.”

Clark immediately understood what the blond senior was saying. Abby was a far better person because in spite of the bullying she would still have the compassion to feel sympathy for someone in a similar situation. 

“Now why don’t you girls make like a tree and leave.” The cheerleaders nodded and pulled Mandy away before she could say something else.

Whitney turned to Clark. “I’m sorry, man.”

They began walking along the corridor. Clark shrugged. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. After Lana threatened to break up with me, I took a long, hard look at myself and I didn’t like what I saw. I mean it, Clark. I’ve done some things I’m not proud of and I …” He ducked his head. “I mean … will you accept my apology? For everything?” He’d already apologised for the scarecrow incident but Clark guessed that wasn’t what he meant.

“Yeah.” He offered a small smile to the jock. “Thanks.”

Whitney shrugged. “So, how is Abby?”

Clark had called the hospital after his first class and they’d told him Abby was resting but she was doing okay.

“She’s recovering, I guess.”

“You know, your friend, Lane, she nearly ripped Anderson apart.” Whitney quickly related that he’d seen Lois talking to Brett on the field and had caught enough of the conversation to know what had gone down.

Clark grinned. Chloe had told him enough that he knew when Lois was mad, everyone needed to duck and cover. She was like a pit bull on a pant leg.

“Heh, that’s why we call her Mad Dog Lane. Not to her face, though,” he added hastily. 

Whitney laughed. “Must be something to do with all those army guys she hung out with.”

“And then some.”

The blond stopped walking. “Well, I better go. Lana’s going to look over my English paper for me. See you.”

Chloe was already in the Torch office when Clark entered. Lois was on the couch eating a candy bar. Chloe looked up from the computer.

“Hi. I was wondering … you’ve known Abby since grade school, right?”

“Yes,” he said slowly. “Why?”

“Well, do you know what happened to her dad?”

He shook his head. “She never talked about it much. I think he left when she was a baby.”

“Oh.” She began tapping some keys on the keyboard. “I was thinking of trying to track him down.”

Lois shook her head at her cousin. “Like I told you, Chlo, if her dad was interested in her at all, don’t you think he’d be here?”

“Well …”

Clark chose not to deter her. Chloe would do what she wanted to do with or without their input anyway. Besides, he thought, Child Services were probably already investigating. 

He flopped down beside Lois. “Clark Bar?” she said. He frowned, then realised the candy bar she was eating was a Clark Bar. He rolled his eyes.

“I ran into Mandy in the corridor,” he said.

Chloe scoffed when he told the girls what had happened. “Mandy is a b …”

“Don’t say it, Chlo.”

“Well, she is.” Lois shot her a look and Chloe subsided. “So, what happened?”

“Whitney told her off.”

“Whitney?” Both girls looked stunned. “The same guy who strung you up in a cornfield?” Lois asked.

“Yeah, I know. I guess he had some kind of epiphany,” Clark told them.

Lois smirked at him. “That’s a big word for you, Smallville.”

“Shut up, Lane.”

“Ooh, great comeback!” He scowled at her. “Well, you wanna hear about my day?”

“Do I have to?” he asked, earning a nudge from her.

“I was talking to Mrs Cooper before gym. She told me her sister committed suicide.”

Chloe frowned. “Are teachers supposed to tell kids that stuff?”

Lois shrugged. “Well, I’m not gonna tell Principal Kwan. Anyway, she said I would make a good reporter.”

Clark guffawed. “You? A reporter? Sure, you’re like a pit bull on a pant leg, but a reporter? That’ll be the day.”

“Oh, I’m not gonna go for it. I mean, with my luck I’d probably end up stuck sharing a desk with the biggest geek of the newsroom.” She huffed. “Anyway, I took this test in Cosmo.”

Clark stared at her. Cosmopolitan? Well, since she apparently didn’t like reading books, Cosmo was probably her speed. She glared at him, as if reading his mind.

“Is that the one about what career you should have?” Chloe asked. “You know those tests are a joke, right?”

“Whatever. Anyway, it said I could be a radio disc jockey.”

Clark laughed at her. “You? Well, I guess that would make sense. You talk enough. There wouldn’t be any dead air.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You are so gonna pay for that, Smallville.” 

“You and what army, Lane?” he retorted. Chloe interjected before Lois could carry out her threat.

“Well, whatever you decide, Lo, you’re still gonna have to actually graduate high school. And you’ll have to actually go to classes to do that.”

Lois turned her narrowed gaze on her cousin. “What are you trying to say, cuz?”

Clark knew what his friend was suggesting. He’d seen her transcript from her last school and she’d apparently skipped a few classes. It looked like she was doing it again.

Chloe raised her hands. “Nothing. I’m not saying a word.” She turned to Clark. “Are you gonna sit there or are you gonna help me with the Torch?”

“Umm …”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. The paper’s not going to write itself, Queen. Where’s your article on the student council?”

Sighing, Clark got up and went to sit down at the other desk to finish his article. 

It was almost dark by the time he got home and he found his brother and Jonathan working and chatting. He set to work alongside them doing his own chores.

The discussion at dinner that evening inevitably turned to Abby. Clark was hopeful that Child Services would be able to help. 

After dinner, he asked if he could go to the hospital to see his friend. Oliver volunteered to join him and drove the car. 

“You know, what Mom said is right. This is not your fault. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s Elise’s.”

“I just …”

“No, Clark. Stop thinking like that.”

He sighed. He knew he had something of a guilt complex. 

“I sometimes wish I’d never come to Smallville.”

“Well, Mom and Dad wanted us to …”

“No, not that. I mean, the ship. If I hadn’t come here, Mom and Dad would still be alive and there wouldn’t be people running around with those meteor powers attacking people.”

Oliver swerved the car to the side of the road and stopped, leaving the car running as he turned to his brother. 

“What the hell are you talking about, Clark?”

“If the meteors hadn’t landed with the ship …”

“No, you stop that right now! You are not responsible for the meteors, Clark. Nor are you responsible for what happened to Mom and Dad.”

“But … don’t you think … I mean, if someone did kill them, it was because of me.”

“Oh my god, kid, I would smack you if I didn’t think I’d break my hand doing it. You listen to me! Whatever happened to Mom and Dad, it was because bad people made a bad decision. I’m glad you came to Earth, Clark. Because of you, I have a little brother. I don’t ever want to hear you blaming yourself for every bad thing that happens, okay?”

“What about the meteors?”

Oliver looked thoughtful. “Look, I’m no scientist, but …” He brightened, clearly having thought of an idea. “Maybe we can go talk to Dr Swann. See if he can explain about the meteors.”

Clark nodded. He realised he was being stupid. Jumping to conclusions without any of the facts. 

They continued on to the hospital and went to Abby’s room. She was happy to see them but Clark could tell she was not in good spirits.

“What happened, kiddo?” Oliver asked kindly. He must have also seen she was down.

“My mom. She was in a while ago telling me how much this was going to cost her business, not to mention her reputation.”

Clark huffed. It was like all the woman cared about was her reputation, which had already been damaged when she’d been caught doing experimental procedures. Chloe had shown him the articles. Elise had been using prisoners as guinea pigs in experiments in creating a Fountain of Youth. 

There had also been something about the woman having had several cosmetic procedures when she was younger; possibly trying to create the ‘perfect’ look. There was no such thing as far as Clark was concerned. 

Abby went on to tell them that her mother had told her to just get plastic surgery like she had done. She’d apparently been developing some kind of serum and wanted to try it out on Abby. 

Oliver squeezed her hand. “Don’t listen to her. You’re only fourteen, Abby. You still have some growing up to do.”

“I know. But what if she’s right and it’s never going to get better on its own. I mean, the kids at school …”

“I know what they say, Abby,” Clark said quietly. “And they’re wrong. You are not ugly. You’re a good person.”

“I hate to go all Psychology 101 on you, but kids like that probably project their own insecurities on you.”

“What do you mean?” Abby asked Oliver.

“Well, I mean, I never studied it, but I bet those kids think that by putting you down it makes them feel better, when really it just makes them look like the bigger jerks. I know it won’t help you feel any better about yourself but you could change that.”

“How?”

“By talking to someone. My mom … when my parents died, she suggested I go see a therapist.”

Clark frowned at his brother. “I didn’t know that.”

Oliver shook his head. “We didn’t tell you. I mean, you were only six. It’s not like I went though. I was angry for a long time.”

“How did you get over that?” Abby asked.

“By being stuck on an island for three years. Trust me, as a kind of therapy goes, I wouldn’t recommend it.” He grinned at her and she smiled back. “The one good thing it showed me is that I’m a survivor. So are you.”

“I’m not so sure,” Abby said, looking down at her hands. She still had a needle in one hand. 

The nurse came in a short while later and told them they needed to leave, but Abby appeared to be in better spirits by then. Clark sighed as they went out to the car.

“I really hope we can do something,” he said. “Even if it means finding her dad. I’d hate to think what her mom will do when she does get out of hospital.”

“I’m not going to let that happen,” Oliver said. “She’s a good kid and she deserves way better than that.” He looked thoughtful, bouncing the key ring in his hand. “People like her are the reason I want to do something.”

“Like what?” Clark asked. “Does it have anything to do with that costume?”

“It has everything to do with it, Clark. There’s a whole world out there of people who need the kind of help only we can give. It’s not about money. It’s about doing the right thing.” He paused. “I’m sorry I tried to keep you out of it. From what Mom tells me, you’ve been doing fine on your own.”

“Yeah, maybe. But I sort of had help.”

“Still, I think we could really make a difference. You got your abilities for a reason, Clark. Just like I know there was a reason I survived three years on that island.” He smiled. “You with me, little brother?”

“Not so much on the little, thank you very much.”

Oliver wrinkled his nose. “I don’t know. I think you’ll always be the pain-in-the-ass kid who used to follow me around.”

“I resemble that remark,” Clark returned.

His brother laughed. “Get in the car, kid.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I kind of borrowed the idea for Elise Fine's experiment from Lois and Clark, but it makes sense to me that she'd do something like that. As for Mandy, yes, the same one from Devoted. Another character I despised.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois needs help studying for a test

Lois yawned as she picked up the coffee pot and started to pour herself some more coffee.

“Late night, sweetie?” her uncle asked.

She put down the pot and tousled her hair a little. “Mm. I have a test coming up on Monday so I was studying.”

He seemed surprised but pleased. “Good.”

She’d been called in by the guidance counsellor mid-week. Somebody had noticed she was skipping classes and the counsellor wanted to check up on her. For a school in a small town, they were rather strict about making sure their students did what was required of them.

She’d sat opposite the woman, arms folded, refusing to talk about it. Lois had never really been all that interested in studying. The counsellor had told her she would never get into a good college if she didn’t get good grades. 

Somehow it had got back to her uncle that she had skipped class a few times and he’d sat her down when she’d got home. 

“The school called,” he’d said. 

“Oh?”

“I hear you’ve been skipping classes.”

She shrugged. “Only a couple.”

Uncle Gabe sighed. “Lois, you will never get into a good college if you don’t keep your grades up.”

“That’s what the counsellor said.” She scowled. “I’m not even sure I want to go to college.”

He sighed again. “That isn’t the point. Lois, I wasn’t going to bring this up, but you do know Child Services could have you placed in a foster home if necessary.”

She frowned at him. “What do you mean?” she asked, instantly alarmed at the thought. She didn’t want to go live with strangers. As hard as the past few weeks had been, she was actually happy in Smallville. Living with her cousin, hanging out with Chloe, Clark and the others. Sure, Clark was kind of a geek, but he was nice and didn’t talk down to her. 

“I’ve left you alone and perhaps I shouldn’t have. I know you’ve been independent since your mother died and your father did neglect you somewhat. If you don’t pick up your grades and your attendance then the school will have no choice but to call in social services.”

“They can’t do that!” Lois said in protest.

“I’m afraid they can, Lois. You’re only fifteen. That makes you a minor.”

She swallowed. It didn’t matter that she’d been independent for nine years. He was right. Social services could take her away.

“So, new rules. You go to every class, you do your homework and you pick up your grades. I’m not going to ground you, Lois, because we both know things could be a lot worse.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed lightly. “I’m only saying this because I care about you, sweetheart. I know the past few months have been rough on you and I’m sorry that I have to come down so hard on you.”

“I know,” she said softly, fighting the urge not to cry. His tone had been gentle but she heard the worry in his voice. As much as she had loved her father, he would never have spoken to her like this. He would have just told her she needed more discipline and sent her off to do chores, or to run the base obstacle course. 

She had gone to bed that night knowing that the school was keeping a close eye on her and made the vow to change. Maybe she wasn’t the greatest of students but she had to try. The last thing she wanted was for social services to decide that her uncle wasn’t doing his job. 

She’d gone to every class as he’d asked. Luckily, she thought, as her history teacher had set a test for Monday. The test would have been thirty percent of her grades for the year.  
She drank her coffee and tried to wake up. She’d stayed up until one in the morning studying for the test. She wasn’t sure she had her facts down, but at least she still had the weekend and she figured Clark might be able to help. He was a good student with a high grade-point average. 

She had barely seen him all week. Most of it was because of Oliver’s return. It appeared the entire student body had decided he was the best source of information about his brother’s story and students would corner him every chance they got. He’d spotted her watching once and rolled his eyes, making her laugh. 

“So, what do you have planned for the weekend?” Uncle Gabe asked, turning to put some bread in the toaster. 

“Um, I thought I might go talk to Clark and see if he can help me with this test. Chloe said he gets good grades in history.”

“That’s a good idea.”

Chloe came stumbling in, yawning. She hadn’t brushed her hair and it was sticking up in all directions.

“’Morning,” she groaned. “Coffee!”

Her father placed a cup in front of her as Chloe sat on one of the stools.

“Burning the candle?” he asked.

She lifted the cup and sipped the hot beverage, closing her eyes and sighing in an approximation of bliss. 

“Yeah, I’m still trying to find out what happened to Abby’s dad. She gets to leave the hospital today.”

Lois frowned at her, having not caught up with the news. “She’s not going back to her mom’s is she?”

Chloe shook her head. “No. The Kents got their attorney involved and sued for temporary custody. So she’s going to stay with them until the court date.”

Uncle Gabe frowned. “What did Child Services have to say?”

“Not much, from what Clark told me. They do think there is a definite case against Elise Fine for child neglect and other stuff. Anyway, Clark seems to be really happy she’s going to stay with them.”

Lois stared at her cousin. “I thought they were just friends? I didn’t think they were …”

“They’re not dating, Lo. Clark’s known her since first grade, that’s all. She’s like a sister.”

“Oh.”

Chloe studied her for a moment. “You’re not jealous or anything, are you?”

She scoffed. “Jealous? Of Smallville? Give me a break! The guy’s a major geek.” If anyone had more reason to be jealous it was her cousin, she thought. It seemed that even though they’d talked it through, Chloe wasn’t letting go of her crush. 

“Well, you two do seem to have a ‘special’ kind of way with each other.”

Lois grabbed a piece of toast and threw it at her cousin. “Special my …”

“Don’t say what I think you’re going to say, young lady,” her uncle told her, smirking. She wrinkled her nose at him. 

“So, do you have to go into work today?” she asked, changing the subject.

“No, thank goodness. I’ll say one thing about Lex. He’s not as demanding as his father when it comes to his workers giving up their days off.”

“I still don’t like the guy,” she said. She didn’t like to think the guy was stalking her but it seemed like every time she was in the Beanery, there he was.

“He’s not that bad,” Chloe said. “I heard his dad told him to lay off about 500 guys at the plant.”

Uncle Gabe nodded. “Yes, something to do with cutting costs. He managed to find another way to cut the budget, thank goodness.”

Sure, that was a good thing, Lois thought, but it still didn’t make her trust the guy. 

She finished her breakfast and went to get dressed. Chloe had some homework she needed to finish so Lois went to the farm on her own. It was cold but the brothers were out by the barn shooting hoops when she arrived. 

Clark was dodging around his brother, laughing. 

“Quit fooling and shoot, Clark,” Oliver was saying. “Before I take it from you.”

The brunet smirked and nonchalantly bounced the ball on the ground. “You can try, but you’ll lose.”

“Wanna bet?” the blond hissed. 

Lois stood on the driveway, watching them. They apparently were oblivious to her arrival, too busy taunting each other. Oliver tried to snatch the ball away from his brother, but Clark feinted and dodged around him, whooping as he dunked the ball.

His breath misted in front of him as he laughed. Oliver wrapped an arm around Clark’s neck and mussed his hair. Lois couldn’t help smiling at the way the brothers appeared to be reconnecting. 

“You cheated,” Oliver said. 

“Nah, you’re just slow,” Clark replied. He looked up at Lois’ laugh. “Hey, Lois. What’s up?”

“Figured you could help me study,” she said.

He cocked an eyebrow at her. “You? Study?”

Oliver nudged him. “What’s it for?” he asked. 

“History. I have a test on Monday. It’s thirty percent.”

“Ugh,” the blond said, making a face. “Who’s the teacher?”

“Donnelly.”

Oliver looked surprised. “What? He hasn’t retired yet?” Lois hid a smirk. The teacher had apparently been at Smallville High for over twenty years and looked a little long-in-the-tooth. 

“I guess not.”

“Yeah, you’re gonna need all the help you can get,” Oliver continued. “He marks you down a half point if you put a comma in the wrong place on an essay.”

Lois groaned. “Oh great. That’s all I need to hear.”

She followed them in the house. Oliver was still talking about the history teacher and a few incidents where he’d got in trouble in class. Jonathan was at the kitchen counter, drying some dishes, while Martha was working on some accounts at the table. The sweet aroma of cookies baking in the oven filled the room. The couple looked up as they came in.

“Hello, Lois,” Martha said. “You’re here early.”

She explained about the history test. The redhead nodded.

“Your studies are important,” she said. 

Lois sighed. “Yeah, my uncle wasn’t happy when he found out I was skipping class.”

“Well, I’m not surprised at that,” Jonathan said. “As your guardian, it’s his responsibility to make sure you’re attending school.”

“I know,” she returned. “He told me about social services. I guess I never really thought he’d get in trouble.”

Martha looked kindly at her. “It’s unfortunate, but you are a minor in the eyes of the law, sweetie.” Which reinforced what he’d already told her. That he was responsible for not only her welfare, but making sure she did everything she was legally required to do. 

Oliver frowned at his guardians. “Did you get in trouble for some of the things I did in school?”

Jonathan shrugged. “Well, social services did visit us from time to time to make sure we weren’t treating you boys badly. The trouble with the social workers here is that they immediately look to blame the parents, or the guardians in this case, when the child is acting up.”

“But that wasn’t your fault,” Oliver protested. Martha looked kindly at him.

“I’m afraid the state doesn’t look at it that way.”

Lois scowled. What was it with the state that it poked its nose in where it wasn’t wanted? Okay, she thought. Maybe there were some families who had troubled kids, or some kids who had horrible parents, like Abby, but the Kents weren’t like that. 

Clark sighed. “I think I had to go to the school counsellor every few months and talk to them about stuff.”

“Yeah, me too,” Oliver said. “I mean, yeah, I was kind of a spoiled brat, but I always told them you were cool. Even if I was like an emo teenager, I promised my dad I would look after Clark, no matter what. Imagine what could have happened if we’d been split up and sent to foster homes?”

Lois figured it would have been bad. While Clark was old enough to look after himself now, she guessed when he was six he would have needed his brother’s protection. At least, she hoped that was it. She couldn’t think there’d be any other reason for it. The two boys were obviously close.

There had been talk about Lucy being pulled out of boarding school and being placed in a foster home herself, but Lois had at least managed to get the social worker to let her sister stay in her school in Switzerland. Lucy was doing very well, with grades almost as good as Clark’s. Tearing her out of there wouldn’t have helped the situation. 

“Anyway, the point is, honey,” Martha said, looking kindly at her, “do you really want to give social services an excuse to say your uncle isn’t raising you properly?”

She sighed. “I guess not. I’m just not good at stuff. I’m not as smart as Chloe.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” Clark said. “Some people just don’t get things as quickly. That’s got nothing to do with intelligence.”

Oliver nodded. “Clark’s right, Lois. I knew this kid in school. Smartest kid you could ever come across but every time there was a test he totally flaked. Graduated barely by the skin-of-his-teeth. Some people don’t test well.”

“Great,” she said with a long sigh. “How am I going to pass this test on Monday?”

“Well, that’s why you’re here, isn’t it?” Clark said. “I’ll help you. What’s the test on?”

“Civil War.”

“Easy,” Clark said with a smile. “I bet I’ll even have you reciting the Gettysburg Address before the weekend’s out.”

“Let’s not go overboard,” she replied, grateful for his help in spite of his earlier teasing. 

“Why don’t I get set up in the loft,” Clark told her. 

Martha got up and went to the oven, pulling out a couple of trays and setting them on top of the range. 

“The cookies will be just about cool enough by the time you’re ready,” she said. 

Oliver reached for one and got his hand smacked in return. 

“You can wait until they’re ready, young man. Don’t you have to go pick up Abby?”

Oliver looked at the clock. “Oh yeah. Dad, you wanna come with?”

Jonathan smiled. “Try and stop me.”

The two men followed Clark out. Lois turned to Martha.

“Guess it’s been pretty busy around here,” she said.

“And noisy,” Martha replied, making a face. She smiled. “It’s been wonderful, actually, having him home. I’m sure it won’t be long before he’ll be wanting to get a place of his own, but I’d like to delay that as long as possible.”

“My sister’s like that too. Whenever she was home for the summer, the place always looked like a tornado had whipped through.”

“You miss her?”

“Sometimes. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I love Lucy, but we don’t always get along.”

“Why is that, honey?”

Lois bit her lip. When her mother’s funeral had been over, her father had taken her aside and told her that she was now in charge of her sister. At six-years-old. She would be responsible for carrying out his orders and making sure Lucy followed those same orders. 

Martha’s lips thinned in disapproval when she related how her father had executed the ‘chain of command’.

“Well, sweetheart, I don’t want to speak ill of the dead, but I think he was placing an awfully large burden on you when you were so young.”

“It’s okay. I know. I guess he just did what he had to do.”

“So where is Lucy?” the redhead asked.

Lois thought she had told the family about her sister, but she guessed not. 

“She’s at boarding school in Switzerland. Dad thought because she was the youngest that it was best she had some kind of stability.” She remembered thinking his phrasing was kind of odd and wondered if the base chaplain or one of the medical officers had said something. Whatever it was, he’d sent Lucy off when she was eight to the prestigious school in Switzerland. It was one of those that catered for all ages, from six to high school senior. 

Meantime, Lois had felt like a spare piece of luggage. Even if she had wanted to go to boarding school, she knew he never would have allowed it. She had no idea why. Maybe it was because she was older. Having lost her mother at six, she’d had a little time to grow accustomed to moving around every eighteen months or so. Lucy had only been four when their mother died and they’d only moved a couple of times back then. 

She often wondered whether he’d chosen to keep her with him because he didn’t consider her as smart as Lucy. Which kind of hurt. 

Martha gave her a plate of cookies and sent her out to the barn. Clark had already set up a space heater so the loft was warm. Lois dumped her bag on the couch and took out her textbook. Clark sat down next to her with a pad and pencil.

“Okay, so Donnelly’s tests are usually multiple choice, so you just need to memorise facts. He leaves the essays for finals.”

“Does he really mark you down for putting things in the wrong place?” she asked. 

Clark made a face. “Yeah.”

“I’m not so good with that.”

“I kind of noticed. I saw that piece you wrote for the Torch when you first came to Smallville. Your spelling’s really bad.”

“Well, not everyone can spell good,” she said, cringing a little. 

“You’re gonna need to work on that if you want to pass Donnelly’s class. There are tricks you can use. Like mnemonics.”

“Ne-what?”

“Mnemonics,” Clark said, writing it down on the pad. The spelling looked weird to her. “It’s a device. Like with spelling, you can substitute a word for each letter and create a phrase to help you remember.”

“Oh. Cool.”

“So … Civil War. What date did it start?”

Lois reached for her textbook but he put a hand on hers. “No, no cheating. Think about it.”

“Um, 1870?”

“Close, but no cigar.”

Clark began firing questions at her, using different ways of explaining how to memorise the facts. They were still hard at work an hour later when a car pulled up on the gravel driveway. Lois got up and looked out the loft window.

“They’re back,” she said. 

Her friend joined her at the window. Abby was getting out of the back seat of the car. She still looked pale and very unsure of herself, even as Martha came out to hug her. 

Clark nudged her. “Let’s leave Abby to get settled. Come on. We still have some work to do.”

A couple of hours later, Lois was about ready to scream. History was boring. Yet Clark seemed to enjoy it.

“What do you find so fascinating about this stuff?” she asked. 

Clark shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I just like to know about stuff that happened. I mean, when you think about it, everything that is around today is because of something that happened in history. You remember that old tv show? Star Trek?”

She frowned. There had been several incarnations of it. Science fiction wasn’t really her thing. She preferred action. 

“What about it?”

“Well, I knew this kid in sixth grade. He was totally into science fiction and he told me that some of the concepts they came up with in Star Trek are actually around today.”

“Like what?”

“Flip phones. Stuff like that.”

“I don’t get it.”

He sighed. “It’s not important. It’s just … sometimes to understand the present, you have to know about the past. I mean, a lot of stuff that happened in the Civil War led to changes that we see today.”

“Yeah, and some of it hasn’t changed at all. I mean, look at Pete and the way people treat him. All because he’s, you know, black. I mean, his ancestors were probably slaves on some plantation.”

“I guess, but then if the Civil War hadn’t happened, do you think Pete would be who he is or would his family still be slaves? Do you think his mom would be a court judge?”

She shook her head. “I don’t even want to think about it.”

“History isn’t just about events, Lois. It’s about where we come from. What made us who we are.”

She studied him for a long moment. “Do you think about that a lot? Where you come from, I mean?”

He sent her an odd look which she couldn’t interpret.

“I do, sometimes. I wonder what my birth parents would have been like. Were they nice people? Did they love me? That sort of thing.”

“So you don’t remember them?” she asked, knowing he’d been about three when the Queens had found him. 

He shook his head. A creak on the stairs alerted them to the fact they were no longer alone. Lois turned to look over toward the stairs. Abby had come up.

“Hi, sorry to interrupt your studying.”

“No, it’s okay,” Clark said. “How are you doing?”

“I’m okay,” she said quietly. “Your mom …” She hesitated. “Mrs Kent said to tell you lunch was ready.”

Lois smiled at her. “Great. I’m starved.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so this chapter sort of turned into a bit of a philosophical discussion, but I think the point that Lois skipping class may be frowned on by social services. I do object to the whole idea of 'nannying' children, but truancy is something I take seriously and I imagine since Child Services would have been looking after Lois' case, they would be taking her skipping school very seriously and could place some of the responsibility on her uncle. Well, that's my thinking anyway.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver does his best to help Abby.

Oliver noticed Abby was quiet at lunch. She was still pale, but he knew from experience a week in the hospital was no picnic. Martha looked at her.

“Not hungry, sweetie?”

Abby had barely touched the sandwich on her plate. “Um, I …”

“Hey, I know things feel a bit strange,” Oliver said kindly. He’d felt the same way for a couple of days after he’d returned. It wasn’t just the way his brother had been acting but everything had felt a little off. He hadn’t wanted to say anything to the Kents but they’d seemed to have got along just fine without him and he’d felt a little like an interloper. Of course, that wasn’t the case. They’d missed him and had done their best to try to keep things normal. If only for Clark’s sake. The past three years had clearly been difficult for his little brother.

Abby turned to smile tentatively at Lois. “Uh, so what were you guys talking about in the barn?”

“History, mostly,” Lois said. “I’ve got a test on Monday.”

Abby made a face. “Ugh, with Mr Donnelly? Everyone hates his tests.”

“Well, that makes me feel so much better,” Lois said sarcastically. The blonde shrugged. 

“Sorry.”

Lois shook her head. “It’s cool. I’ve just never been much for history.”

“Me either,” the other girl replied.

Oliver put up a hand. “I think that makes it unanimous,” he said with a grin. It wasn’t much of a joke but it seemed to break the ice and Abby appeared to relax a little more. 

Conversation turned to other, normal everyday things. Jonathan was having trouble with the tractor again. He was planning on going into town early the next morning to pick up some new parts.

“You know, Dad, with all the money you’re spending on these new parts, wouldn’t you be better off buying a new tractor altogether?”

The blond farmer looked at him like he’d just spoken blasphemy.

“There’s nothing wrong with the tractor,” he said. 

“It breaks down every other week,” Clark pointed out. “Plus it’s old.”

Jonathan almost choked on his coffee. He aimed a swat at Clark’s head. The dark-haired teen attempted to duck only to almost fall off his chair. Lois and Abby began giggling at the expression on Jonathan’s face and Clark’s mortification. Even Martha was hiding a grin behind her cup of coffee. 

Oliver could tell from the way the older man was looking at them that it was about to turn into a lecture on how they should learn to value what they have and that just because their parents had been wealthy it didn’t mean they had it easy. Fortunately the phone rang before Jonathan could get into it. He got up to answer the phone.

“Kent Residence. Oh, Collins. Yes, he’s right here.” Jonathan handed the phone to Oliver who got up to grab it.

“Collins?”

“Mr Queen, I thought you should know that an agent of the FBI came to see me this morning.”

Oliver frowned. The agents had sure taken their time, considering it had been a week since his story had appeared in the paper. He’d called the Metropolis office and they’d promised to look into the file but he hadn’t heard anything since. 

Which was another reason he wanted to look into it himself.

“What did they want?” he asked.

“Details of your parents’ business trips. I told them you had all their papers. Especially from that last business trip.”

“Right. Anything else?”

“There’ll be a meeting of the board next week.”

“It’s Christmas,” Oliver told him. His brother had one more week of school before Christmas vacation. 

“Yes, and the board has a final meeting for the year two days before the holiday. Or in this case, two business days before the holiday. I know you’re not up to speed but as your father’s eldest …”

“Yes, yes, I know.” Oliver sighed. “Give me details. Where and when.”

“Friday. Here in Star City.” The board meeting was to begin at ten in the morning. Given the time difference, he could leave Kansas around nine and still have an hour to spare for the meeting. “Are you up for the flight?”

“I’ll be there,” he promised. “Send me the agenda as soon as you have it so I can get up to speed on any matters they want to discuss.”

“Will do,” the man replied. 

Lois picked up her plate and took it into the kitchen, rinsing it before putting it in the dishwasher. She sighed.

“Guess we need to get back to the study,” she said to Clark, sounding reluctant.

“Guess so,” Clark replied, getting up to rinse his own plate. 

“I’m never going to get this stuff,” Lois complained. 

“Yes you will,” Clark assured her. “You just need to find a method that works for you.”

Oliver watched them leave, wondering about the relationship between them. He’d had concerns about Chloe because of the way she looked at Clark, but his brother’s friendship with Lois seemed to be on a completely different level. He knew they’d bonded because they’d both lost parents but he wondered if it was more than that. He didn’t get any kind of romantic vibes but then again, Clark was only fourteen and he apparently wasn’t even interested in dating yet. He didn’t know enough about Lois to decide what her perspective was. He was happy, at least, that his brother had been able to form close relationships with girls without the complication of dating. 

He looked at Abby. She had managed to finish her sandwich but looked a little uncertain. 

“I guess I should go catch up on my homework,” she said quietly.

“You need help with anything?” Oliver asked. “I can’t promise I’ll be brilliant. I barely passed at school.”

“Hmm, that’s because you didn’t apply yourself, honey,” Martha said. 

“No, that’s because I was a lazy little shit who didn’t study,” he replied.

“Took the words right out of my mouth, son,” Jonathan said, shooting him a wry grin. Oliver shot him an indignant look. 

Abby giggled. “Were you really that bad?” she asked.

“Spoiled rotten, that was your problem.” 

“Jonathan, don’t exaggerate,” Martha admonished her husband in response to his teasing. 

Abby looked at the couple as they got up to clear the table, teasing each other as they did so.

“Do you want any help?” she asked quietly.

“No, sweetie, you go and catch up on that homework. Oliver will help you if you get stuck on anything.”

Oliver decided to follow the young blonde out. Chloe had already supplied her with homework, complaining that the teachers had said being in the hospital was no excuse to get out of doing it. While Oliver had agreed with Chloe’s complaints, he wondered if Abby needed to have something to focus on, instead of her problems. 

He’d barely recognised her when he had met her in the Torch the afternoon he’d returned to Smallville. He hadn’t really spent too much time with her when she was growing up, other than the few times she'd been studying with his brother on various school projects. While Clark had gone through Smallville Elementary, then middle school with her, she hadn’t hung out with them much. It wasn’t until she’d started high school that Clark had encouraged her to help out in the Torch. Oliver supposed it was his brother’s way of trying to protect the more vulnerable kids. He didn’t think Abby was weak, but it was clear she hadn’t had too many breaks in life. 

He watched as she began working on some maths problems. 

“Ugh, I hate maths,” he said. 

“I like maths,” Abby replied. “It’s sort of like … I don’t know. You can work out a problem and come up with the answer. I mean, numbers have like a … a pattern, I guess.”

“Unlike real life?” he asked wryly. 

“I guess. I mean, people think about maths as a kind of universal language.”

Oliver frowned at her. He’d never really thought about it that way, but he supposed there was some kind of truth to it.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” he asked.

“Well, not my mom, that’s for sure,” she said. She grimaced and looked grieved. It was obvious that she still cared about her mother, despite what the woman had done to her. Oliver had read enough about the problem to know that it wasn’t unusual. “I’m sorry. Was that wrong?”

“No. You know what your mom did to you was abuse, right? I mean, abuse doesn’t have to be physical.”

“Yeah, that’s what Dr Sydell said. You know, he was really nice.”

“For a shrink?” He made a face. “When my parents went missing, the Kents took me to a couple of therapists. Well, I think they had to. Something to do with the courts or social services.”

“It must have been really hard for you. How old were you when your parents died?”

“Thirteen. Clark was six.”

She nodded. “I remember when we all started school together. I mean, most of the kids in our freshman class were in kindergarten together and we didn’t get a lot of new kids. Having a new kid like Clark was big news.”

It reminded Oliver of those early days in Smallville, when others would look at him with what seemed like suspicion. Small-town people could be so small-minded. He supposed it was different for Clark, since he’d been only little. 

He’d gone out with Jonathan earlier in the week and they’d stopped in at Nell’s flower shop to pick up some flowers for Martha. She had greeted him warily. Apparently she still considered him an ‘outsider’ even though he’d lived there five years before his ill-fated trip.

“I suppose you’ll be going back to the big city to take over your father’s company,” she'd said. 

“I don’t know what I’m going to do yet,” he'd told the brunette. As much as he had behaved horribly toward his mother’s cousin, Nell had been worse. It was bad enough, Martha had once told him, that Nell and Jonathan had dated while in high school, so there was probably a bit of jealousy there. Nell had continued to look on Martha as an outsider and the women had always been cool toward each other. 

His thoughts returned to the young blonde and their conversation.

“I can imagine you were all curious about who he was,” he said, smiling at Abby. 

She sent him a half-smile in response. 

“He’s just this really sweet guy.”

Oliver cocked an eyebrow. “Sweet? My brother? He was a nightmare when I was a kid. Always following me around, asking me questions.” Abby didn’t look as if she believed him. As much as he pretended he’d hated it, he’d found it almost ‘cool’ to have a little brother who looked up to him. Now that Clark was older, of course, it was different. 

“You’re lucky though. I mean I would have loved to have had a little brother or sister, but my mom … well, my dad left when I was a baby. I guess because of her. She was … I mean, she is a control freak.”

Oliver was beginning to understand a little why Abby was the way she was. Her mother practically suffocated her and at the same time appeared to be extremely cruel to the point of eroding her daughter’s self-esteem. 

“So, are you gonna take over your dad’s company?” Abby asked.

“I don’t know. I mean, I think my dad would like it to stay in family hands. I’m a little worried though.”

“Why? Because you don’t think what happened to you or your parents was by chance? How are you going to prove that?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it? How would you feel about helping us?”

She looked puzzled. 

“Helping you? How?”

“Well, I can tell you’re pretty smart. I bet you could help me look over some of my dad’s papers and you might see something I miss. What do you think?”

She smiled. Oliver couldn’t help but notice the way she brightened when she smiled. She was so pretty when she wasn’t thinking about her acne. 

“You know, you have a really pretty smile,” he said.

She blushed. “No, I don’t.”

“Abby, I don’t say things I don’t mean. If there’s one thing the past three years taught me, it’s to be honest with people and tell them what I really think instead of hiding behind a mask. And believe me when I say you have a pretty smile.”

“Thank you,” she said quietly. “And I would love to help you.”

“Great! So, how about we see what we can do with your homework and then we’ll go look at those papers. What do you say?”

She nodded and showed him the problems she was working on. Oliver moved a little closer so he could read and work things out. 

They managed to get the homework done quickly and moved on to the papers. He decided he was right in his initial assessment. Abby had a quick mind and was able to understand concepts easily, whereas he had always had trouble with it. He knew he was at least reasonably intelligent but when it came to academics it just wasn’t his thing. 

A while later he heard Clark and Lois come in. He looked up, frowning, realising it had started to grow dark. They’d been working for several hours and he hadn’t realised it. Jonathan stepped in the door behind the teenagers.

“Hey son, how about taking a break and come and help me with the cows,” he said.

Abby looked up. “Can I help?”

Oliver looked to his guardian for a response. The older man smiled. 

“Sure you can. But put on a jacket, love. It’s cold out there. I think it might be going to snow soon.” He grabbed a jacket from the coat hook. “It’s Martha’s but I think it’ll fit you.”

Abby smiled and took the jacket, thanking him. Oliver exchanged a smile with the blond farmer. Bringing the young girl to stay with them, for however long it took to sort out the problems at home, had been a great idea. She seemed so much brighter, more animated. 

The three of them went out together. Jonathan showed Abby where the feed trough was and the supplies and she began filling it while Oliver went with his guardian to help with the animals. He shivered as a cold breeze blew. He looked up at the sky. It was looking a little grey. He could see snow clouds on the horizon.

“Looks like we might get a white Christmas,” he said. Jonathan nodded.

“Sure looks like it.” He glanced toward the barn where Abby was doing her best with the feed bags. “She seems brighter.”

“Yeah,” he said, nodding. “You didn’t mind, did you? Letting her stay here?”

His guardian assured him he didn’t mind at all. “It’s better for her to be around people who care about her. You’re doing a good thing with her.”

He guessed Jonathan had seen him working on his father’s papers with Abby. While she hadn’t seen anything untoward in the papers, she appeared to understand what she was reading and asked a few questions which Oliver hadn’t considered.

“I think she just needs someone to believe in her,” Oliver told the older man. If that meant taking her under his wing, so to speak, he was more than willing. 

Part of him had realised that in doing so, he was trying to make up for the terrible things he’d done in the past. The Kents hadn’t been wrong when they’d admonished him about some of the things he’d done at Excelsior. He’d acted like he thought he was better than anyone else and he’d come very close to becoming a bully. His parents would have been so upset with him, had they known.

Of course, that wasn’t to say that they didn’t know but just chose not to say anything. He knew his mother had gone somewhat easy on him and because of it, he’d been a little spoiled. He’d played on it a lot, which was wrong.

There had been times on the island when he’d wondered if this was his punishment for being such a brat. He had sometimes felt he’d deserved what had happened, which was why he’d resolved to be a much better person if he ever got home again. 

“You know,” his guardian said slowly, “I’m not as obtuse as you think I am. Helping Abby is a good thing and I’m proud of you for that. But do it because it’s the right thing to do, not because you think you have something to make up for.”

Oliver looked at him, not realising the older man understood everything. 

“I don’t …”

Jonathan looked at him kindly, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“You need to forgive yourself for the mistakes of the past, son. What happened to you wasn’t because of karma, or whatever you kids call it. Someone planned this. That much I’m sure of.” He glanced toward the house. “I know you want to investigate it and I think you should do whatever you have to do to give yourself some peace. Just don’t say too much to Martha. I don’t want to worry her more than necessary.”

He straightened and looked at the sky. “Getting dark. We should go take care of the cows before it gets too dark.”

Oliver nodded. “Yes, sir.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There were several things I think they were trying to say about Oliver in the show. That Oliver made a lot of mistakes in the past and I do think that what I allude to in the chapter here is similar to what that Oliver went through. I do think he became Green Arrow to try to make up for things he did in the past and not just because he saw people needing help. He began drinking in season nine and part of that I think is because he was trying to hide from his pain, especially over Jimmy. People would have seen him as a playboy or someone bent on 'partying it up' but I think it was used to hide a deep insecurity, that maybe he wasn't good enough or that he would never live up to someone like Clark. Those are just my thoughts anyway.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark helps Lois see things from a new perspective.

Helping Lois learn her history was not the chore Clark had initially thought it was going to be. He’d been right in his initial assessment. Lois was smart. She just needed to be able to see history in a different way. 

During the hours they’d studied together, he’d asked her questions about her dad and tried to relate what he did to the subject of the test. His friend didn’t seem too thrilled at the idea and he guessed part of it was because of the way she’d felt neglected by her dad.

Finally, he’d asked her about it.

“What bothers you so much about it? Your dad’s job, I mean?”

She was biting into a cookie and took her time chewing it before answering.

“I dunno. I mean, it’s not just the fact that he was going off to command troops. I mean, it’s sort of like he was a hero, you know? It’s just … sometimes it felt like that was more important to him than me.” She sighed. “I don’t think I could do what my mom did. She’d send him off on his missions with a smile and a kiss and I know it hurt her sometimes but …”

He heard the pain in her voice. She obviously carried a lot of sad memories. He wished there was something he could do to ease her pain but even though they were friends, she could be prickly when she was emotional. 

“She did what she had to do,” he said, finishing her thought. 

“Yeah.” She shook her head. “I don’t think I’m strong enough to do something like that.”

He bit his lip, keeping his tone gentle, hoping he could help her see things from a different perspective. “Did you ever think that maybe it was just as hard on your dad? I mean, he’d be going off to fight wars, right?” She nodded. “So, maybe he couldn’t really talk about it at home, because he was afraid you girls would get scared that he wouldn’t come back. There was always that chance.”

Again, she nodded. “There was this girl in my class, in fifth grade, I think. Her mom was a lieutenant. She went away on a mission and didn’t come back.” She looked out the window for a moment, her eyes taking on a far-away look, as if she was recalling a memory. “We were in art class and the guidance counsellor came to the room. She had this really, really sad look on her face and we just knew something bad had happened. So, my classmate was taken out of the room and we just stood there. She wasn’t at school for the next week and when she did come back they told us what happened to her mom. She left school for good a month later.”

Clark looked at his friend with sympathy. How it must have hurt when she had learnt of her father’s accident. Granted, it hadn’t been in combat, but it had been devastating all the same. 

It would be a good lesson for the period of history she was studying.

“Imagine what it was like for all those families in the Civil War,” he said quietly. “I mean, a lot of men didn’t come home and it wasn’t like it is now where women can earn their own money.”

“Yeah,” she said, nodding. “I bet it was really tough for them. I know some of the women on the base used to talk about being ‘war widows’ but those women really lived it.”

“You know,” he went on, “the one thing they don’t really talk about with the Civil War is not just that it was a war between the states. Imagine if we were living in that time and your dad had a cousin who was with one army and your dad was with the other.”

“God, how awful would that have been?” she asked, her expression showing she was picturing what it would have been like. “I mean, what if they had to meet on the battlefield?”

“Yeah,” he replied. 

“I kind of get it. I mean, these are people who don’t really agree with what they’re fighting about but they have to do it anyway. It kind of sucks.”

“You’re right. It does.”

Lois looked at the textbook and began reading from a chapter. As Clark began testing her on some of the reading, he noticed that she was relating more to the material. Maybe the discussion about her father had helped a little, he thought.

They returned to the house late in the afternoon. Oliver and Abby went out with Jonathan to help with the chores while they sat and talked to Martha, who was in the middle of preparing dinner.

“Are you staying for dinner, Lois?”

Lois was busy helping herself to some potato chips from the bag on the counter but smiled at the redhead. 

“Would it be okay?” she asked. “I’d have to call Uncle Gabe though.”

“You’re more than welcome, sweetie. How did the study go?”

“Good,” Clark said.

“Clark’s a good teacher,” Lois added. 

He grinned at her. “Well, I don’t know about that. It’s like I told you. You just need to find your own way of learning the material.”

“Yeah, but you explain things way better than Donnelly.”

He blushed at the compliment and grabbed a handful of chips. “Anything we can do to help, Mom?”

“How about you set the table for me while Lois calls her uncle.”

“Sure.”

The others came back in a short while later, having finished all the chores. Jonathan kissed his wife.

“What’s for dinner?” he asked, trying to dip a finger in the saucepan.

“Nothing unless you wash your hands first,” Martha scolded, smacking his wrist. “You too, Ollie.”

Oliver grinned and looked at Abby, who was looking rosy-cheeked and much better than she had at lunchtime. 

“Come on,” he said. “Half-bath’s through here.”

Clark could hear the two lightly teasing each other as they went down the hallway to the bathroom. He’d initially worried that Abby might feel out of place, but it sounded like she was adjusting already. 

At dinner, Oliver kept up the teasing of Abby, which she returned. It was clear she had never worked on a farm before and Clark noticed his brother was gently teasing her about her inexperience. 

“Like you were any better, son,” Jonathan told him, chuckling as Oliver’s face fell. He grinned at Abby. “His first morning on the farm, he was out in the field trying to herd some of the cows into the milking shed. Tried to grab one of them and slipped on a cow pat. Muck all over his clothes. Martha wasn’t going to let him back in the house until he stripped off.”

Abby laughed. “That must have been embarrassing.”

Oliver scowled. “I was thirteen. It’s not cool for your parents to see you naked, or almost,” he complained. 

Jonathan reached over and tousled his hair. Oliver tried to look annoyed but soon joined in the laughter. 

“Try having the birds and the bees talk with your dad when you’re a girl,” Lois tuned in. “He pretty much said, ‘don’t have sex’ and ‘no dating until you finish college’.” She snorted. “Like that would ever stop me. I had this crush on a guy when I was twelve. He left last summer to join Special Forces.”

“So, you’re saying …” Clark began, wondering if that meant she’d already slept with someone. He had a feeling that if her father had been alive, she probably would have done all those things just to rebel against her dad’s over-protectiveness.

“No, god no. I haven’t met anybody I want to do that with. I’m not even ready to date.” She frowned. “Is that weird?”

Martha shook her head. “No, sweetie. It’s actually very sensible. Sometimes I think teenagers are in too much of a hurry to grow up. You’ll know when you’re ready.”

Clark shrugged. He felt there was way too much pressure to be like every other teen. He knew of a couple of girls his age who had done it already and he thought they were way too young. 

“There was this girl in my sophomore class at high school,” Oliver interjected. “She was only fifteen but she had to leave school because she got pregnant.”

Jonathan frowned. “Wasn’t that Ethan Miller’s niece?” he asked. “I’m sure I heard it somewhere.”

“Yeah, Dad. I think so.”

Martha tut-tutted. “Well, I know you three are far more sensible than that,” she said, smiling at Clark, Lois and Abby in turn. They grinned back at her. Clark had had his moments when she had looked at him with disappointment but it was nice to know she thought so highly of him. 

After dinner was over, Abby offered to help Oliver with the dishes while the rest sat in the living room to watch television. After a while, Lois gathered her stuff.

“I should get going. Uncle Gabe will probably be worrying,” she said. 

Clark got up to see her to the door. He’d noticed she’d been quiet for the rest of the evening.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, just, you know, thinking about my dad. And Wes.”

“Wes?”

“The guy I told you about. I haven’t talked to him in ages.”

“If he’s gone into Special Forces, he might be busy with training or work or something.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” She sighed. “I think sometimes about what things would be like if my dad were still here, you know? I mean, there were times when he could be so annoying, and we’d have so many fights but …”

“You miss him.” He leaned forward and touched a hand to her arm. “It’s okay to miss him, you know. He was your dad.”

He felt bad for her. While things hadn’t been great while Oliver was missing, he was happy that he had his brother back in his life. It didn’t mean he couldn’t empathise with her and understand how hard the past few months had been. 

She punched his shoulder. He pretended to flinch as if it had hurt.

“Thanks, Smallville. I know I can always count on you for some perspective.”

He snorted. “Whatever, Lane.”

Next morning, Clark had finished his chores and was studying at his desk in the loft when Oliver bounded up the stairs. 

“Hey, kid,” he said.

Clark rolled his eyes. “Stop calling me kid.”

His brother reached over to tousle his hair. “You’re still a kid to me. What’re you working on?”

“Just homework.”

“Oh. So, I was thinking about that stuff we talked about the other day.”

“What stuff?”

“Mom and Dad. The drawing. That stuff. Anyway, I’ve been working on some ideas.”

Clark looked at him. “What ideas?”

Oliver reached past him to the bookshelf and pulled out a notebook. He sat down on the couch and opened up the book. Clark turned his chair around to look at the drawings.

“Arrows?” he said. The drawings were of different designs of arrows. 

He remembered their father had been involved in the sport, although not really competitively, and he’d begun teaching Oliver. Clark hadn’t really been all that interested himself. With his strength, he figured his parents would have been afraid he would break the bow or something. He hadn’t learnt much control when he was little. 

“Yeah. I mean, I got pretty good at it while I was on the island. So, I thought up some different designs. I mean, there’s your basic arrowhead. I figured I could get some made with steel, or whatever. Then I thought, what if I came up against some bad guys. I mean, I couldn’t exactly use that kind of arrow against them.”

“Well, no, I mean, even if you didn’t kill them, you’d still wound them pretty badly. Stuff like that you’d get away with in Robin Hood’s time, but you know, you’d probably get sued or something. You know, like on that movie where that lady is talking about her friend who got sued because a guy got hurt breaking into her home …” Clark trailed off at the withering look from his brother.

“You think way too much about this stuff,” Oliver returned dryly. 

Clark shrugged. “That’s America,” he said. “People sue for all sorts of crazy things.”

“Anyway, so I was thinking of maybe designing something like a punching glove but then I thought that would be too ridiculous, so what if I could design an arrow that delivers some kind of knockout gas, or, I don’t know, an electric shock.”

He frowned at the older man. The designs sounded great but there was just one problem. How was he going to make all these things? He was sure the designs would need some kind of electronics expert. Neither one of them had that kind of expertise. 

“Um, how exactly are you going to get someone to create all this?” he asked.

Oliver shrugged. “We’ve got an R&D division. I think. I’ll just get one of them to do it.”

“And as soon as you use one of those arrows on the street, they’ll know who you are.”

His brother sighed. “I’ll admit there are a few kinks I need to work out, but I’ll come up with something.”

“What about the stuff with what happened to Mom and Dad?”

“That’s why I need to do this. I called one of my friends from Excelsior, but they didn’t seem to want to talk about what happened with the yacht.”

“Maybe we should go see Dr Swann?” Clark asked. If what had happened to their parents had anything to do with Veritas then he was sure Dr Swann might know something.

“Yeah, you’re right. He might at least be able to steer us in the right direction.” Oliver scratched at his nose. “How about we go see him right after Christmas?”

“Why can’t we go next week?”

“Because you still have a few days of school left and I have to go to Star City for the board meeting.” He paused, looking thoughtful. “Why don’t you come with me on Friday? You might as well get to know the board.”

Clark nodded. The school would break up for Christmas on Thursday afternoon, so they could go together. As long as it was okay with Martha and Jonathan. 

His brother put a hand on his shoulder. “I promise, I will contact Dr Swann and make an appointment to see him during the break. Okay?”

“Okay. Sounds good.”

When they went in for lunch, he told the older couple about the plan to go to Star City. Jonathan nodded his agreement.

“I think that’s a good idea, son. It will give you the chance to get to know a bit about your family’s business.”

Clark wasn’t sure he wanted to know too much about Queen Industries. While he hadn’t really thought too much about the future, he couldn’t see himself putting on a suit and doing a lot of flying. He would rather leave that up to his brother. At least Oliver had it in his blood, so to speak, he thought. 

The opportunity to spend some time with his brother, even if that meant sitting in on a boring board meeting, was too good to pass up. 

Conversation turned to the coming week. Abby looked a little uncertain.

“I’m not looking forward to going back to school tomorrow,” she said. 

Oliver put an arm around her shoulders. “Don’t you worry. If anyone gives you any trouble, and I mean, even if they sneeze wrong in your direction, you tell me and I’ll take care of it.”

“Ollie, honey, don’t do something you might regret.”

Oliver shrugged. “Don’t worry, Mom. I’m just planning on beating them to a pulp.”

“Oliver …” Jonathan said warningly.

“I’m kidding. I’ll just put the fear of God into them.”

“Me too,” Clark piped up, grinning at the girl next to him. 

“How are you going to do that, kid?” his brother retorted. “Stare at them really hard?”

“I can be intimidating if I want to,” he returned, ignoring the ‘kid’ remark.

Abby shook her head, laughing in spite of her anxiety. “Not you, Clark. You couldn’t be intimidating if you tried. You’re like a big teddy bear.”

He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Teddy bear? I don’t know whether to be flattered or insulted!”

“Well, just think, sweetie,” Martha said. “Teddy bears are cute and sweet.”

“And that’s you,” Abby said. “You’re like the sweetest guy I know.”

Oliver looked disappointed. “What am I? Chopped liver?” he complained.

“You’re like a big brother,” Abby told him. “Only cooler because you don’t treat me like a little kid.”

“Hear that?” he said, beaming. “I’m cool.”

Clark snorted. “Don’t let it go to your head,” he replied. “Your ego’s big enough already!”

His brother shot a glare. “You are so going to get it, kid.” He gestured between. “You and me. Yard. Basketball hoop. Right now. I’m so going to beat your ass.”

“You and what army?” Clark shot back, hearing the laughter from his guardians and Abby’s giggles. 

They went out to the yard. Clark grabbed the ball from the barn and began bouncing it on the drive. 

“You better not cheat,” his brother told him. Clark threw him the ball, using just enough power to knock the wind out of the blond man’s sails.

“I’m not the one who cheats,” he replied, recalling a game a few years earlier when Oliver had indeed been cheating. 

“I’m not the one who can move in the blink of an eye,” his brother returned.

“Actually, I can move faster than that,” Clark said.

“Yeah, yeah, quit bragging!”

“Will you just shoot already!”

He noticed Abby had come out to watch them play. He hadn’t thought about telling her about his abilities but he supposed that now she was living with them he would have to. It wouldn’t be fair to her otherwise if he hid them from her. He decided he needed to discuss that with the rest of the family before making any further decisions. 

Clark managed to get the ball back but Oliver tried to trip him up and block him from getting to the basket. He feinted and dodged, laughing as his brother failed to prevent the move.

“He shoots, he scores,” Clark cried in triumph as the ball bounced on the frosty ground. Oliver shot him a dirty look before retrieving the ball. 

“Better not get used to that,” he said. “That’s the only point you’re going to get.”

“We’ll see.”

They played for another half hour, continuing to taunt each other. Abby stayed on the porch, a cup of hot cocoa in her hands. Clark asked her if she wanted to join them but she shook her head, smiling. 

After a while, Martha came out to join her on the porch.

“Boys, shouldn’t you come inside?” she called. “It’s getting cold out.”

“We’ll be in soon, Mom,” Oliver called back, dribbling the ball.

Clark frowned, feeling something wet on his shirt. 

“Hey, look,” Abby called. “It’s snowing!”

The brothers turned and looked toward the house. It was only light but it was definitely snowing. Oliver glanced at him and nodded his head in the direction of the porch. Clark threw the ball into the barn and followed his brother back to the house. They stood on the porch, watching the snow coming down.

Abby finally turned to them. “So who won?” she asked. 

Funnily enough, neither one of them had remembered to keep score. Abby shook her head and gave an exasperated sigh.

“Boys,” she said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt like taking a little break from studying and writing my non-fic book, so wrote this chapter.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Losers present a united front

Lois and Chloe had made a plan the night before school started that Monday. They were going to meet their friends at the school gate and make sure no one bothered Abby. 

They were surprised when not only Pete showed up, but Whitney and Lana as well. The brunette freshman shrugged. 

“We thought it would help Abby if we presented a united front,” she said quietly.

“Plus it would give all the jocks the message that I’m not gonna let them bully her,” Whitney replied. From the way the couple looked at each other, Lois wondered if it had actually been the blond football player’s idea, rather than Lana’s.

“Hey, man, that’s cool,” Pete said. 

Chloe pursed her lips, looking dubious. She had told Lois she hadn’t had a lot to do with the former cheerleader in middle school, but they’d been talking lately. The biggest surprise was that while the girl had been cheerleading all through middle school and had made the high school team, she had quit after only a few weeks. Chloe had assumed it had something to do with her mother, as she’d been asking about an address at a graduation years earlier.

Lois watched as the Kent farm truck turned into the parking lot. Clark got out first, holding out his hand to help Abby from the front seat. Oliver got out on the driver’s side. The trio approached the entry. 

Oliver looked coolly at Whitney.

“Fordman.”

The jock nodded. “Oliver.” He smiled at Abby, who looked at him almost fearfully. “Hey, Abby. How are you doing?”

“I’m okay,” she said quietly. 

“I just wanted you to know that I’m real sorry about what happened. As far as Anderson goes, he even blinks wrong in your direction, I’m getting him kicked off the team.”

Lois looked at the jock. From what she’d heard, it would be an even worse punishment for Anderson than getting suspended from school. His father had also played football when he’d attended Smallville High and his son getting kicked off the team would be humiliating. 

“Thank you.”

Oliver nodded. “Yeah, thanks Whitney,” he said, his tone more friendly than before. “Uh, we have a meeting with Principal Kwan before class.”

“We just wanted you to know that if you need anything, just tell us,” Lana said. 

Lois frowned, glancing at Clark. It seemed more like they were trying too hard. She knew Whitney did feel partly responsible for what had happened to Abby. After all, he had not only condoned the bullying, he had in many respects participated in it. She appreciated that he wanted to make up for it, but in her mind it was the same situation when her father had died. Abby needed time to get her head straight and she didn’t need to be crowded. 

Clark stood aside to let his brother and Abby enter the building and head to the administration wing. He turned and looked at Whitney and Lana. 

“Look, I appreciate you wanna help, but Abby doesn’t need to be crowded either, okay? The best thing you can do for her is let her be.”

He added that it would also help if they made sure no one breathed a single insult in Abby’s direction. Lois knew it would never stop completely. Bullies came in all shapes and sizes and most weren’t bright enough to realise the consequences of their actions. 

If she could say one thing about Whitney, it was that he’d learned from this experience. She doubted he would support another hazing any time soon. 

They all walked into school. Lois’ class in history was first period. She had done some last-minute cramming the night before and felt confident she knew the material.

Chloe hugged her as she left for her homeroom. 

“Good luck,” she said. 

Clark smiled at her. “Yeah. Good luck.” He paused. “You better ace that test after all the study we did. My reputation’s on the line.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Oh, you’re hilarious, Smallville.”

Lois put her things away in her locker and headed to class. Several other students had already filed into the classroom ahead of her but she managed to get in before the history teacher closed the door. Donnelly was a stickler for punctuality and anyone who was late to class would get an automatic fail on their test. 

The teacher was a short, skinny man aged in his late sixties. While he wasn’t exactly feeble, he was clearly not as fit as some. What hair was still on his head was pure white. 

He walked slowly up and down the rows of desks, handing out the test booklets.

“You have forty-five minutes to complete the test,” he said. “There will be no talking, no going to the bathroom. Anyone caught cheating will not only be automatically failed but will be sent to Principal Kwan. Is that understood?” No one in the class dared answer. “Fine. You may begin.”

Lois opened her booklet and wrote her name at the top. She quickly skimmed over the questions on the first page and smiled to herself. She knew this material. She knew it inside and out. 

She finished the fifty questions in good time and spent the remaining ten minutes checking her answers but she felt confident she had done very well. The teacher called out “Pencils down” five minutes before the period was due to end and began collecting up the papers. A few students began groaning and complaining but Donnelly snapped at them to shut up. 

As Lois left the classroom, a boy she knew from her English class nudged her.

“Hey,” he said.

“Oh, hey Justin.”

“How’d you do on the test?” he asked.

Justin Gaines was cute with dark, curly hair and a nice smile. He could often be seen in the cafeteria drawing in a sketchpad. He also drew a comic for the Torch. 

“I think I did okay,” she said. “I spent all weekend studying.” She made a face.

He nodded. “Yeah. History’s not my thing either.”

“Oh well, you do what you gotta do. So, I really love your comic.”

“Thanks.” He frowned slightly. “Chloe’s your cousin, right? Is she, uh, you know, dating anyone?”

“No.”

He bit his lip. “Funny, I thought her and Clark were a thing.”

Lois shook her head. “Nah. I don’t think Clark’s interested in anyone right now. You should ask her out if you like her.”

He smiled. “I think I will. Thanks, Lois.”

She watched him walk off. He was a nice guy and Chloe deserved to date someone who liked her for who she was rather than for looks. Not that her cousin wasn’t cute. 

She ran into Clark when she went to her locker to get her books for her next class. He smiled at her.

“So, did you pass?”

“I don’t know yet,” she replied, rolling her eyes. As if she would know immediately after the test was over. 

“Well, I’m sure you did great,” he said. 

“Yeah, well, you’ve got a reputation to protect,” she responded with a grin, reminding him of what he’d said earlier. “Can’t have anyone thinking you’re a terrible teacher.”

“Exactly.” He grinned, showing his fangs. If Lois had been the kind of girl who practically swooned at the sight of a cute guy, she would have done so the moment he showed those sharp teeth. She’d known some guys who were as good-looking as Clark, but they had no apparent flaws. Except for their vanity. It sounded kind of odd, but she felt that even a slight imperfection made them even more attractive to her. 

They walked along the corridor together. Lois spotted Justin talking to Chloe and sent him an encouraging smile. Clark looked at the pair as they chatted. Chloe was smiling and laughing, so whatever Justin was saying to her was clearly amusing. 

“What’s that all about?” Clark asked softly. 

“Justin likes Chloe,” she said. “I think he’s asking her out.”

“Oh. That’s great. Justin’s a good guy. He’ll treat her well.”

Lois was glad Clark felt the same way about Chloe dating someone. Who wasn’t him. They’d talked a little about her cousin’s crush on him and he’d told her he didn’t want to hurt Chloe but he didn’t feel that way about her. Or anyone, really, he’d said. 

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. Lois went to the Torch after her last class as she had to wait for Chloe. Abby was sitting on the couch, talking about her day.

“Well, then I had to go see the guidance counsellor and it was like I’d suddenly developed two heads or something. She just looked at me kind of strange.”

“I think that’s what they call overkill,” Lois said, sitting down beside the blonde. “They did it to me when I first came here.”

She opened her bag and pulled out an orange, peeling it and offering a wedge to Abby. The other girl took it gratefully.

“Oh, how did your test go?” she asked.

“I think it went well,” Lois told her. “Thanks to Clark.”

“Talking about me?” Clark said, entering the room.

“Why? Your ears burning?” Chloe asked, grinning as he rolled his eyes. 

“What are you looking so happy about?” the dark-haired teen asked.

“Justin asked me out.”

“That’s great, Chlo. He’s a nice guy.” Clark smiled at her, appearing genuinely happy for her. 

Lois listened as the two reporters talked over story ideas for the next issue of the Torch. Chloe clicked a few keys on the computer and waited a few seconds before looking over at the printer. She sighed. 

“The printer’s jammed again,” she said. “I really wish Principal Kwan would cough up for a new one.”

“Considering he’s already ripped you a new one about your conspiracy theories, I doubt he’ll consider that any time soon,” Clark commented.

Abby got up and went to look at the printer. She opened the drawer and did something with the ream of paper inside before checking the side door of the machine. Within a few seconds, the printing came out. 

“You keep filling the tray too full,” she told Chloe. “That’s why it’s jamming.”

“Don’t look at me. Clark loads the paper tray.”

The girl glared at Clark, but he raised his hands in surrender. 

“It’s not like I do it on purpose,” he said.

“Right. Why do I get the feeling you do it so it makes me think I’m useful around here?”

“That’s not why,” he said. “I like it when you hang out with us.”

Lois could tell Clark meant every word. It was obvious he had a soft spot for the bespectacled blonde. She guessed that he knew what it was like to be treated differently. For any reason. 

She heard voices in the corridor and recognised Pete’s, along with Brett Anderson. 

“You heard Whit, man. You really don’t want Oliver coming down on your ass.”

“I don’t care. Queen can threaten all he likes, but I’m not gonna apologise. I don’t even know why you hang out with those losers, Ross.”

Lois headed for the door but was intercepted by Clark. 

“Hey! Anderson!”

The football jock turned around and smirked at him. Pete stood beside him, looking uncomfortable. 

“Never mind about my brother,” Clark growled. “You worry about me. And if you even so much as put a foot wrong in Abby’s direction, I won’t be responsible for my actions.”

Brett sneered at him. “You threatening me, Queen?”

“He’s not the only one,” Lois told him.

The freshman jock scoffed. “You think I’m afraid of a girl?”

“You should be,” Lois told him. “I was taught how to fight by Green Berets and Navy Seals.”

“I don’t care. I don’t have anything to apologise for.”

Abby came out and faced the teen. “So are you trying to say you didn’t call me ‘ugly’ and a ‘skank’ the other day?” she asked.

He flushed. “You must have me confused with someone else,” he said. “I would never …” He kept trying to avoid her steady gaze, his eyes darting from side to side.

“Oh, I wasn’t confused,” Abby said. Her voice was trembling and she looked pale, but appeared determined to face the boy who had hurt her so deeply. “I know it was you. And do you know something, Brett? I thought you were a good guy when we were in grade school together. We might be called the Losers Club around this school, but the only loser here right now is you. I’m not going to have acne forever, but you? You will always be a jerk!”

He stared at her, admiration in his expression. “Abby, I …”

She raised a hand in dismissal. “Goodbye, Brett! We both know you won’t learn a single thing from this, so I’m not going to waste my breath a second longer.”

“Wait,” he said. “Abby, I’m …”

She turned and walked back into the Torch office, refusing to hear another word. Lois glared at the jock, who stood with his mouth open.

“Stunned is a good look for you, Anderson,” Pete said, laughing at the other boy’s wounded look. He walked away from his team-mate and entered the office. 

Lois and Clark watched the boy slink away in total humiliation. Clark sighed.

“She’s right about one thing. Guys like Anderson and girls like Mandy won’t learn anything from this. They’ll still be jerks.”

“Yeah, but at least he won’t dare pick on Abby anymore,” Lois told him. She rejoined her friends in the office. 

Abby was standing with Chloe, who had an arm wrapped around the other girl’s shoulders.

“You sure told him a thing or two,” Chloe said. “When that story gets out, no one’s going to want to tease you.”

“I was shaking so badly,” Abby admitted.

“But you faced him,” Clark told her gently. 

“I did, didn’t I?” she said. 

Whatever Oliver and Clark had done that weekend had obviously given the girl some courage, Lois thought. She wondered if Oliver had coached her on what to say as it hadn’t sounded completely spontaneous. Abby still had a long way to go before she would fully deal with all her self-confidence issues, but facing a former bully was a step in the right direction. 

What Lois had liked was that she’d still managed to face him down and hadn’t resorted to petty name-calling. Maybe she had called him a jerk, but that was what he was. 

Oliver came in a short while later to drive Clark and Abby home. He looked very proud as Clark told him what had happened between Abby and Brett. The other girl still looked shaky but happy that she’d done it. 

After the brothers left with Abby, Pete sat next to Chloe and helped her sort out a couple of photos for the next edition. He left shortly after, saying he had chores to do at home.   
Lois looked out the window. It had started to rain, and given the cold temperature, it was more sleet than rain. 

“What time is it?” she asked her cousin.

“About four-thirty,” Chloe replied. 

“It’s getting dark out there. Your dad's probably waiting for us.” Chloe’s dad was picking them up since they’d taken the bus to school.

Chloe nodded. “You’re right.” The fax machine beeped and she stood up. “Let me just see what this fax is.”

She bent over the machine to grab the printout, then gasped. 

“What is it?” Lois asked. Her cousin looked like she was about to cry.

“The police blotter,” she said. “Justin was in an accident. Hit-and-run.”

“Oh my god, Chlo.” She immediately went over to hug her cousin. 

“I’m just gonna call the hospital.”

“They won’t tell you anything,” Lois reminded her gently. “This isn’t like what happened with Abby.”

“I do have a couple of contacts …” her cousin began but Lois shook her head.

“No. You’re upset and it will just make you even more upset. If it just happened, they’ll be too busy to talk. I mean, it was hours before the hospital would tell me and Lucy about Dad.”

“You’re right. I can call them later. Let’s go home.”

Sure enough, Uncle Gabe was waiting in the almost empty parking lot for them. 

“Had a good day, girls?” he asked cheerfully.

“It was okay,” Chloe said. Her father frowned. 

“What’s wrong?”

Lois told him about the fax and Justin’s earlier conversation with her while Chloe sat quietly in the front seat. 

“I’m sorry, honey,” he said, reaching over to pat her arm in a gesture of comfort. 

Lois wished there was something she could say to help ease her cousin’s pain. She clearly had liked Justin Gaines and for him to have been in an accident after asking her out on a date had to have hurt. 

Chloe was quiet all through dinner as well. She chose not to watch television with them afterwards and went to her room. Lois decided the best thing to do was let her have her space for a while. 

After an hour of silence, she knocked on her cousin’s door. When there was no reply, she opened the door. Chloe was sitting up on the bed, the phone next to her. 

“Chlo?”

Her cousin sighed. “I called Justin’s mom. She said he’s stable, but in critical condition. They won’t know anything more until tomorrow. If he makes it.” Her face crinkled as if she was going to cry. 

Lois sat on the bed and wrapped her arms around the other girl. She knew from her own experience that the next few hours were critical. If a patient made it through the first twenty-four hours, it was positive. 

“Maybe it’s me,” Chloe said with a sigh. “Maybe I’m a jinx.”

“What are you talking about?”

“He asks me out and has an accident. Maybe I gave him bad luck.”

“Don’t talk like that. You’re not a jinx. Bad things happen. Luck has nothing to do with it.”

“Am I such a bad person?” her cousin asked.

“No, you’re not. Chloe, don’t think that way. Justin wouldn’t want you to think like that.”

“I wish Clark …”

“What?”

“I don’t know. Maybe if Clark had been there he could have stopped it.”

“How could he have done that?” she asked. 

“He saved Lana. Twice. I mean, he saved her from Greg Arkin. And Tina.”

“Who’s Greg Arkin?”

“Just this guy who had a major crush on Lana. He’s kind of … weird. Nerdy. And he was obsessed with bugs.”

“So, what did this Bug Boy do?” Lois asked. 

“He killed his mom and decided he was going to mate with Lana. We think he got changed somehow by the meteors and …”

“And what? Became like some kind of insect? That’s too weird.”

“That’s Smallville,” Chloe said. “I mean, haven’t you read some of my articles? People blame Luthorcorp, but I don’t think it’s them. I think something about the meteors made some people in town go schizo.”

It sounded like a wild theory but as Lois listened to her cousin, she realised there was a certain kind of weird logic to it. For one thing, if the emissions from the plant were the problem, the strange incidents, like the two-headed cow, or the mutant hand, would be more widespread. As Chloe explained, the events were too random. Most had occurred around the time of the meteor shower but some, like Bug Boy, had happened years afterwards. There was no actual pattern other than the fact there had been meteor rock involved somehow. 

Still, knowing that Clark had been able to stop Bug Boy and Tina didn’t mean he was omniscient. It wasn’t like he could see the future. As much as Chloe wanted to think so, there was no way he could have known what was going to happen to Justin. Nor could he have stopped it in time. 

Sometimes it really was just bad luck or bad timing.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver prepares to fly to Star City, Clark's acting odd.

“Mom, have you seen my briefcase?”

Martha appeared in the doorway. “What briefcase, honey?” she asked.

Oliver frowned. “I got it just the other day at Fordman’s,” he said. He offered a cheesy grin. “I figured if I’m going to be a corporate goon, I should at least look the part.”

She clucked in amusement. “You could never be a corporate goon, sweetheart. As for your briefcase, maybe it’s in the study?”

Oliver remembered. He’d been working with Abby in the study the night before, reading some of the company paperwork. 

“You’re right. I think I left it in there.” He looked over at the clock. “Is Clark still sleeping? We’re gonna be late to the airport.” Smallville had a tiny airport that didn’t cater for private jets, so they would have to drive to the city.

“You know your brother,” Martha replied with a rueful smile. She tilted her head toward the ceiling and called up the stairs. “Clark! You’re gonna be late!”

Abby came down the stairs, shivering. “Brr! It’s freezing!” she said. 

Oliver smiled at his foster sister. “Yeah. Jonathan keeps the thermostat low, even in winter. He thinks it keeps the heating costs down.”

“No, he’s just being stingy,” Martha commented.

“I prefer to call it being economical,” Jonathan said, passing them on the way to washing his hands. His wife scowled at him. 

“Jonathan! How many times do I have to tell you to keep your muddy boots off my clean floor?”

Oliver exchanged a wry grin with Abby, who observed:

“I guess it’s a bit chaotic around here,” she said.

“Yeah. It always is on a farm. You have to be up with the rooster or nothing gets done.” He looked at the clock again. Clark still hadn’t made an appearance. He decided to call up the stairs for his brother. 

“Clark, get your sorry butt down here or I’m leaving without you.”

No sooner had he spoken when Clark stumbled down the stairs, all bleary-eyed, his hair a tangled mass of knots. He was wearing just a t-shirt and pyjama pants. He looked ill at ease, shadows under his eyes. He seemed not to know what to do with his hands, alternating between dropping them in front as if he was trying to hide something, or at his sides, attempting to look nonchalant.

“Afternoon, sleepyhead,” Jonathan greeted him, grabbing a cup of coffee from his wife. 

Martha frowned at Clark. “You’re not even dressed! You and Oliver have to be at the airport in less than two hours. Get back upstairs and get dressed. Right now.”

Clark grumbled and moved toward the kitchen to grab himself something to eat.

“I said now, young man!”

The dark-haired teen just shrugged and sighed heavily, going back up the stairs at slower than even normal speed. 

When Abby had gone to an appointment with her psychotherapist at the hospital, Clark had talked over the problem of his abilities. It had been decided that they would have to be kept a secret from Abby for now. The girl had enough to deal with while she recovered from what had happened and learned to deal with her own issues. 

So far, Abby’s mother hadn’t made any moves to try to regain custody, although she had apparently been seen watching the school. Oliver had wondered if the woman was just going to try to kidnap her daughter and take off with her but no one was going to give her that opportunity. 

Abby was surrounded not only by the so-called Losers Club, but Whitney and Lana had also done their part by rounding up some of the school’s athletes. Anyone who tried to bully Abby, or anyone else, for that matter, were told their behaviour was completely unacceptable.

The school’s atmosphere seemed to have changed in just a few days. It looked like what happened to Abby had cut everyone deeply and the members of the student council had got together with some of the faculty members to ensure that anyone who was having any kind of trouble would have a safe place to go to and be able to talk to someone about what was going on. So far, a couple of students had admitted to being abused at home and the authorities were already looking into it. 

It had made Abby realise that people really did care. The biggest surprise had been a letter of apology left in her locker from Brett Anderson.

Oliver was proud of her for standing up for herself, even if she had admitted afterwards just how much it had scared her. He could be cynical and think that the football jock had been forced to write the apology, considering he was facing expulsion from the football team and a suspension from school, but Clark had told him how Brett had looked after Abby had called him out to his face. It seemed that her own words had cut him deep. 

He glanced at the clock, then looked upstairs.

“Damn that kid,” he said. “Clark,” he called. “Move your ass!”

Martha frowned at him. “Oliver, you know better than that.”

Abby giggled as he adopted a sheepish look. “Sorry, Mom,” he said. 

Clark finally came back down the stairs, dressed in his usual uniform of baggy jeans and plaid shirt over a t-shirt. Oliver glared at his brother.

“We’re going to a board meeting, not a hoedown,” he told him. 

“This is comfortable,” Clark returned, scowling at him. “Besides, what are you panicking about? We don’t have to leave until nine.”

“We have to fly at nine,” Oliver corrected. “It takes an hour to get to Metropolis and the way you’re going, we’re not even going to leave the house on time.”

Clark sighed and rolled his eyes, grumbling as he went back upstairs to change. A car horn beeped and Abby looked outside. 

“That’s Lois and Chloe,” she said. “Chloe’s driving us to school today.”

“Well, have a good day, sweetie,” Martha replied.

Abby grinned at Oliver as she passed on the way to the door. “Have fun at your board meeting.”

“Yeah, thanks,” he replied sarcastically. “I’m sure it’ll be a lot of fun listening to a lot of blowhards waffle on about nothing.”

“Better you than me,” she returned.

“Oh, you’re funny.”

She laughed as she went out. Clark was back, this time in a jacket and crisp, light blue shirt over jeans that were a little less baggy. 

“Happy now?” he grumbled, turning around for inspection. 

“Yes,” Oliver returned. “Now hurry up and get your breakfast. We have to leave in ten minutes,” he added, looking once again at the clock. 

He heard Clark saying something under his breath about bossy brothers and exchanged a smile with Martha. As sulky as his brother sounded, it gave more of a sense of normalcy. In many ways, his first few days back home, he’d felt like Clark had been walking on eggshells around him. Now his brother seemed to be acting as if Oliver had never been away. 

Clark was still munching on toast when they left the house. Since they had no idea how long the board meeting was planned to go on for, he’d decided they could stay in a hotel in Star City overnight and fly back the next morning. 

Oliver tried to concentrate on the road. It had been snowing for the past couple of days and the roads were icy. Jonathan and Martha had kept the SUV Oliver had had before he’d left Smallville after graduation and he’d had snow chains fitted. 

Clark fiddled with the radio. The next sound to be heard in the car was the discordant screams of some kind of what Oliver assumed to be a heavy metal band. 

“Turn that off,” he said. 

“No.”

“Well, then find another station. I don’t want to be deafened.”

“No.”

Oliver risked a glance at his brother. Clark was sitting in his seat, pretending to watch the road. He had a sulky look on his face. He reached over and switched off the radio.

“What’s going on?” he asked. 

“Nothing!”

“Well, then, why are you sulking like a child?”

“I’m fourteen. I’m not a child.”

“You’re not acting like an adult either. What’s going on, little bro?”

The kid sighed and shrugged. 

“Nothing!”

“If you didn’t want to come along to the board meeting, you could have said so.”

“I wanted to come. You said I could.”

“Then stop acting like I killed your best friend or something. What’s going on?”

Clark sighed again. “I told you, it’s nothing. I just didn’t sleep very well, that’s all.”

“What? You wet the bed or something?”

Oliver glanced at him again and saw his brother’s face was beet red. 

“Oh god, that’s it, isn’t it?”

“Uh … I was having this really weird dream. It was like I was, um, flying and when I woke up I was floating.”

Why did he get the feeling there was much more to the story than that?

“And?”

“Um … “

God, it was like pulling teeth. “What were you dreaming about?”

“Some girl at school.”

“What girl?”

“I don’t wanna say.”

“Why not?”

“Because.”

“Because why?”

“Because I don’t think of her that way. I thought I didn’t.”

“What was the dream about?” As if he didn’t know.

“Um, we were in the loft. Studying. And suddenly we were …”

“Making out?”

“Like a porn movie.”

Oliver cocked an eyebrow at his brother, fighting the urge to laugh at the teen’s predicament. “Clark, have you been watching porn?”

“Well, uh, Pete’s brother Sam, you know, you went to school with him.”

“I know Sam. He’s a little shit, but go on.”

“Well, he had this movie. Pete thought it was just an old movie only it turned out to be porn.”

Oliver understood. Sam had done the same thing to him around the same age. It was an old trick they used to play on the younger boys at school. When Jonathan and Bill had found out what was going on, they’d both pitched a fit and threatened to take them both out to the woodshed. The two men weren’t naïve, but they had both made it clear they thought the boys were too young at sixteen to watch such things. 

Clark hesitantly explained that at some point in the dream he’d been floating over the dream girl.

“So, you had a wet dream, does that about cover it?”

“And I was still, you know, hard. When I woke up.”

Now Oliver understood why his brother had been so ill at ease when he’d first come downstairs. 

“Clark, I get it. But just because you had a dream about Lois, it doesn’t mean you actually have those feelings for her. You’ll probably have the same dream about Chloe. Or any other girl at school.”

He explained about the hormones, wondering why Jonathan had never talked to Clark about it. Then again, he supposed that with all the changes to do with Clark’s abilities, something as ‘normal’ as this would probably feel too embarrassing.

Clark looked surprised that Oliver had figured out the dream had been about Lois, but the obvious clue had been the studying. 

“When did you … How old were you when you … yanno?”

“I was … I don’t know. Twelve, I guess. Dad caught me and sat me down and told me it was perfectly normal. Just not to let Mom see. Believe me, it was embarrassing enough realising the maid had to wash my sheets.” Not to mention his first time had been at boarding school. His roommate had seen everything and made fun of him. 

He had no idea whether it was just the fact that Clark wasn’t human or if the signs of puberty had just taken time to develop.

Clark blushed hotly. “I had another dream like that once and I tried talking to Jo – Dad about it, but it was just too embarrassing. Anyway, I figured he had enough to deal with … my abilities, I mean.”

Which confirmed Oliver’s suspicions that Clark had just been reluctant to say anything. 

“You know you can talk to me about this stuff, right? And I promise, I won’t make fun of you.”

“It sucks,” his brother said, staring out the window. “It’s like I don’t know how to control it.”

“It still happens to me from time to time,” Oliver said. “On the island, I’d sometimes be thinking about some girl from high school and get the same thing. You do learn to control it eventually. I mean, it’s just like your strength and your speed. You learned how to control those so it’s kind of instinctive now. You just have to practice, that’s all.”

“The really weird thing is, in the dream, I started to feel all sweaty and my eyes got hot. You know, like how you said your eyes felt when you got that flu.”

Oliver nodded. He’d been the same age as Clark when he’d come down with a particularly bad case of the flu. It had been spreading like wildfire around school. He’d ended up in bed for a week with a high fever that would make him alternately hot and cold so he would be throwing the blankets off one minute and shivering the next. 

“Do you feel sick or anything?” he asked. 

“No. Not like I do when I’m around meteor rocks.”

Oliver frowned. “What about the meteor rocks?” he asked.

“I thought I told you. I get sick around them.”

Oliver shook his head. “No. I don’t remember you telling me this. I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise, really, considering they came from your planet. And because of what they do to others.”

Clark sighed. “Yeah, just another thing to add to the list of things that make me a freak.”

He reached out to his brother. “Clark, you are not a freak. I don’t ever want to hear you say that. You hear me?”

“You just don’t get it. You don’t know what it’s like. I mean, it’s like that song by Tom Petty. You don’t know how it feels to be me.”

“Maybe I don’t, but I have never, nor will I ever, think you’re a freak. What’s brought this on?”

“I just … I can’t help thinking that I’m always gonna be alone. I mean, how am I ever gonna be able to have a girlfriend? I don’t even know if I can … what if I blow a hole in her or something?”

Oliver tried not to laugh, but the image just struck him as funny, even though the subject was quite serious. It certainly explained his reluctance to date. 

“It’s not funny, Ollie!”

“No, you’re right, it’s not. But, look at this way. When you have these dreams, do you put holes in the sheets when you … you know?” he said, gesturing with one hand. 

“What? No! Anyway, that’s not what I mean! What if I’m with a girl and I lose control? I mean … sex is all about losing control. Isn’t it?”

Oliver bit his lip, trying to figure out a way to help his brother without making him feel even more self-conscious or insecure. Then he remembered something. 

“Do you remember when you were about eight and we were fooling around in the loft?”

“Um, I guess so.”

“We were wrestling and you fell from the top. Dad was supposed to have replaced the railing and he hadn’t done that so you fell all the way down to the barn floor. What happened then?”

Clark frowned. “Um … I just fell. Nothing happened.”

“Think, Clark. Remember how you were learning to control your strength and you had a few accidents where you stepped through some floorboards and stuff? But you didn’t even put a dent in the floor when you fell. You controlled your fall somehow.”

“But this is different,” he argued.

“I don’t think it is. Look, I’m no scientist. I don’t even think Dr Swann could explain it, but there’s something about physics.”

“You mean about the unstoppable force meeting immovable object one?” Clark replied.

“No, it’s … I don’t know. I’m just reaching, I guess. But I’m sure there is some kind of explanation. All I’m saying is, don’t suddenly go and decide that you’re meant to be alone or something because you’re afraid of a problem you don’t even know exists.” He reached over and tousled his brother’s hair. “Okay?”

Clark shrugged. “I guess.”

They both fell silent on the remainder of the drive to Metropolis airport. Clark took out a book to read on the plane while Oliver went through the agenda and meeting papers one more time to make sure he was as prepared as he was ever going to be for this meeting.

It came as a shock to discover that one of the board members was none other than Lionel Luthor. Oliver tried to hide his disgust as the man practically barrelled his way through the assembled directors to greet them.

“Ah, Oliver. I heard you had resurfaced,” he said, reaching to shake Oliver’s hand.

The man’s tone was as oily as his shoulder-length hair. As much as Oliver hated Lex, he now felt a little sympathy toward his former classmate. Having witnessed his brother’s earlier meltdown, he realised that was exactly how he’d made Lex feel growing up. Like a freak. 

What made it ten times worse was the fact that Luthor senior appeared to be adding salt to the wound with his long, thick hair. 

“Mr Luthor,” he said coolly. “You know my brother.”

Luthor smiled brightly but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Of course. Carl, isn’t it?”

“It’s Clark,” the brunet replied, his tone just as cool. It was clear Clark despised the man just as much as Oliver. 

“I must say, I’m surprised to see you here. I would have thought you would still be recovering from your, uh, ordeal. I heard you had taken ill shortly after your, uh, rescue.”

“Well, as you can see, I’m alive to tell the tale.”

“Indeed.” The man’s gaze was almost malicious. He was still holding onto Oliver’s hand, his grip strong enough to cause pain. “Most fortunate that you were found when you were.”

Fortunate for me, unfortunate for you, Oliver thought. He was so sure Lionel had not only been responsible for his parents’ disappearance but also for his own. Proving it was going to be another matter entirely. 

The directors were asked to take their seats. Collins quickly introduced himself to Oliver and sat down beside him. Clark sat on Oliver’s other side. As CEO, Collins was the board chairman. 

“Well, firstly, I’d like to welcome Oliver and his brother Clark. I’m sure you are all as relieved as I am to know that young Oliver survived a three-year ordeal on an island.”

There was a murmur among the other directors but Lionel still glared daggers. 

“Now, before we get to the first item on the agenda, are there any apologies?”

Oliver did his best to keep up with the discussion, asking questions when something wasn’t clear. While most of the directors patiently put up with his questions, one of the others sighed heavily.

“Really? Must we tolerate this … child?”

Oliver shot him a glare. He could remember coming to board meetings with his father from time to time and the man who had spoken had always been almost belligerent, refusing to take any orders from Robert Queen.

“Firstly, Mr Merlyn, I am hardly a child. Second, Queen Industries has been my family’s company for three generations … four if you count me and Clark. If you have a problem with my father leaving the majority shares to us, as his sons, then by all means, let’s address that now. Or better yet, let’s not and say we did. I may be inexperienced when it comes to running a company, and you may have a problem with that but right now, I have zero fucks to give. As for your remark, I would counter that by asking who is the childish one here?”

Merlyn tried to argue a little more but to Oliver’s surprise, Luthor raised his hand. 

“Allow me to apologise for my colleague’s ill-advised remarks, Oliver. You have much to learn about running a company, that is true, but there is no call for such offence.” He turned to Merlyn and began whispering something. Oliver wondered if the two men were conspiring against them. 

The dark-haired man looked at him, his blue eyes icy. Nevertheless he offered an apology. 

The meeting continued for another hour, then broke for lunch. Collins turned and smiled at him.

“Phew. I thought for a minute it was going to come to blows there. While I might take issue with your words, I think you handled that well, Oliver.”

Oliver shrugged. He figured it was the best way to ensure that Merlyn got the message that he wasn’t just some kid playing games in his father’s office. 

“So, anymore visits from the Feds?” he asked.

“No. But one of the agents did request a meeting with you about your parents.”

Clark frowned. “Why didn’t they just come to Smallville?” he asked.

“It’s probably out of their jurisdiction,” Oliver told his brother. 

If what he suspected was true, the local office would have to be assigned to investigate the plane crash since the Queens had flown out from Star City. 

As for his own case, he still hadn’t heard from the Metropolis office and figured he wasn’t likely to. Which meant it was up to him to find out who had engineered his exile. 

Collins left the board room to check on something. Clark pulled his chair up closer to Oliver. 

“I don’t get it. We’ve heard nothing from the Metropolis office. Are they even investigating what happened to you?”

“I guess not,” Oliver said.

“That sucks. They should do their damn jobs!”

“Calm down, kid. I just figured they weren’t interested in the case.”

“So, does that mean we have to investigate it ourselves? Where do we start?”

Oliver glanced over to where Merlyn and Luthor were talking. The two men kept shooting glances their way. He had a feeling they had colluded over something but what it was he had no idea. 

The board meeting continued for another two hours after lunch by which time it was obvious Clark was bored. He fidgeted in his chair and began kicking the table. Collins, ever astute, decided it was a good time to wrap up the meeting, even though they still had a couple of items on the agenda. 

“I think we can hold over the last two items until the next board meeting,” he said. “If there is no other urgent business, I’ll bring this meeting to a close.”

Luthor looked as if he was about to bring something up but the other board members shot him dark looks and he sat in silence. 

Oliver and Clark followed Collins out and along the corridor to the CEO’s office. The last time Oliver had been in this office was the day his parents’ wills had been read. It had been the day after that they’d moved to Smallville with Jonathan and Martha. 

The office décor had been slightly updated. The furnishings were coloured in warm tones of brown and cream. A long glass table had been pushed up against one wall. Collins sat in the leather chair behind the table. 

He leaned forward and pressed a button on the phone system. 

“Maria, would you please contact Agent Pryor and have him come down to Queen Towers?”

“Yes sir.” The voice that came through had a strong accent which Oliver suspected was Hispanic. 

Collins nodded. “Maria’s been with the company since just before your parents died. Your dad sponsored her from Mexico so he could help her escape an abusive marriage. Her kids are in college now. Both great kids.”

A set of double doors opened and a woman in her early fifties came in, smiling. She was carrying a tray with glasses and cans of soda. Oliver noticed there were also snacks.

“I thought the boys would like something to drink and a snack,” she said. 

Collins grinned. “Maria, you’re a gem as always.” He gestured toward Clark and Oliver. “You’ve met the boys before. Oliver and Clark.”

She nodded. “The day of your Mama and Papa’s memorial service,” she said. She smiled at Clark. “You were just a little boy. Now you are big and handsome like your Papa.” She turned to Oliver. “You are just as handsome, but so like your Mama. They would be so proud of you.”

“Thank you, Maria,” Oliver said, noticing his brother blushing, ducking his head even as he reached for a can of Coke. 

Collins waited until she’d left the office. 

“Now, what are your plans, Oliver?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve only been back a couple of weeks so I think I still need some time to adjust. Read over some of my dad’s papers.”

“Did you bring them with you?”

Oliver nodded. He’d made copies and left them at the farm, locked in a safe. Martha had talked him into keeping extra copies in a secure facility. Not that Collins needed to know that. While the man was kind, Oliver was still conscious of the fact that this man could still have arranged his parents’ disappearance. 

They talked quietly while waiting for the agent to arrive. Oliver was careful not to give away too much about his plans. 

Maria announced the agent’s arrival half an hour later. The man entered the office.

“Mr Queen, it’s good to finally meet you,” he said. He smiled broadly, looking completely at ease. 

He was young, in his late twenties at best. Oliver disliked him on sight. 

“Mr Pryor,” he said. 

“Did you bring your father’s papers as we asked?”

“Yes. Have you looked into this case?”

“Well, we needed some idea of what kind of business would take your parents out of Star City.”

“So, you’ve done nothing.”

“Well, we weren’t sure there was a case to investigate,” the man replied, his smile fading. 

“Well, let me point out something that should have been glaringly obvious. The plane went down in the Philippine Sea, at least 1600 miles from their destination. How do I know this? Because I found their bodies. Now, I may not know much about trajectories, or flight paths but I know someone who is pretty good at maths and even she couldn’t explain how that plane got so far off course. Even accounting for bad weather. And you’re just standing there telling me you don’t think there’s anything to investigate?”

Clark stood up and faced the agent. The man was not small, but Clark was still bigger by at least two inches and thirty pounds. 

“My parents died and you’re trying to say that what happened was some kind of accident?”

“Well, no, of course not, but …”

“Then how about you go do your job and don’t waste our time?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clark basically asks a question that has been asked since the first time Superman came on the scene but I used it to play a little on his insecurities. 
> 
> I also don't pretend to know anything about boys going through puberty, other than what I've read, so I'm making broad assumptions by what Oliver says to Clark.


End file.
